Richard W. Shear

Richard W. Shear, 77, of Thomson, Illinois passed away Friday, April 18, 2025 at Park Vista Retirement Living in Camanche. Graveside Services will be 10:00 am, Saturday, May 31, 2025 at Lower York Cemetery in Thomson and then a celebration or as Richard said “one hell of a party” will take place from 12:00-4:00 pm at Triple Play in Fulton to follow. All are welcome to come celebrate Richard's Life. Snell-Zornig Funeral Homes & Crematory is honored to serve the Shear family and online condolences may be expressed by visiting his obituary at www.snellzornig.com. Richard W. Shear was born April 6, 1948 in Freeport, Illinois the son of Ken and Arlene (Potter) Starr. He attended in Thomson High School. He worked for Determan Industries as a truck driver until his retirement in 2013 then worked part-time at Wherry Bros. Trucking. He really enjoyed working for the Wherry’s, they were like a second family to him. He married the love of his life Kay Nelson on May 4, 2013 in Fulton, Illinois. She preceded him in death on January 6, 2024. Rich enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. He loved to build things. He was always working on a car or motorcycle in the garage. He even would build his motorcycles right in the kitchen! He loved taking his built cars to car shows on the weekends. Rich also loved going to Chetek Wisconsin every summer with friends and family, he loved to ride the pontoon boat around and fish all day long even though it wasn’t often when he had a fish on his pole but as long as he had a beer in his hand he was good. As time went on his enjoyment changed to feeding his squirrels. He would open the window and holler “cmon squirrels it’s time to eat!” Or sit on the front porch and feed them right off his lap. But most of all, he loved being with his wife Kay. He said “she’s the best wife I ever had” she truly was his best friend. Rich survived by his three children: Dawn (Gary) Huizenga of Albany, Illinois, Tiffiny (Kevin) Dauen of Fulton, Illinois and Tanner (Abby) Shear of Morrison, Illinois; step-daughter RaeAnn (Kyle) Strack of West Des Moines Iowa; grandchildren: Drake, Weston, Camden, Cassie, Alicea, Chelsea and Alexis and great grandchildren; siblings: Cathy (Marv) Green of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, Theresa (Chas) Herman of Naples, Florida, Cheryl Temple of Clinton, Iowa and Linda Starr of Thomson, Illinois; one special cousin Sandy Shadle and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, parents, granddaughter Wrenlee and siblings Randy, Steve and Kimberly. Memorials will be used for a bench in his honor.

Richard W. Shear

April 6, 1948 - April 18, 2025