Thomas C. Shearer, Class of 1959

Grand Rapids attorney, former Grand Rapids school board member Thomas Shearer dies at age 72
Published: Monday, March 15, 2010, 11:06 PM
by Kym Reinstadler | The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS — Funeral services will be Wednesday for a Grand Rapids attorney who gave liberally of his time to non-profit groups throughout the city.

Thomas Shearer died Friday of an apparent heart attack. He was 72.

The Grand Rapids Board of Education adopted a resolution Monday night honoring Mr. Shearer, who served two terms on the board, from 1980 to 1986. He was also a longtime member of the district’s Student Advancement Foundation and had attended Superintendent Bernard Taylor’s State of the Schools address last Wednesday.

Mr. Shearer was board treasurer during a turbulent time when the board twice investigated the city’s first black superintendent for suspected misappropriation of funds. Allegations followed that the board’s actions were rooted in racism.

Grace, Mr. Shearer’s wife of eight years, said her husband sat down with leaders of the black community and they reached an understanding.

“In many ways, I think he was ahead of his time in his emphasis on civil rights and peace and justice issues,” Grace Shearer said. “He had integrity and was well-researched and people felt like they could rely on what he said.”

She also credited her husband, who specialized in real estate law, for living out his belief that one should use his talents to better the community.

He was a longtime board member and past president of the Grand Rapids Rotary Club, YMCA, Clark Retirement Community Board, and Bay View Association in northern Michigan.

The University of Michigan graduate was named the Grand Rapids Jaycees Outstanding Young Man of 1973. As President of the Tuberculosis, Health and Emphysema Society of West Michigan, Mr. Shearer made a bicentennial presentation to President Gerald R. Ford in Washington, D.C. in 1976.

Services will begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church, 227 E. Fulton St.