Marian Ray Spears

1924 - 2023

SPEARS, Marian Ray

Marian Ray Spears of Atlanta, passed away peacefully early on December 12, 2023 in her medical care room at Lenbrook Square, with nurses and hospice caregivers in attendance, having been visited by her two surviving sons and family friends the day before. Having lived most of her adult life in the family home on Old Ivy Lane, Marian had moved to her apartment at Lenbrook in 2012, following the death of her husband of 54 years.

Marian was born in Fort Gaines, Georgia, on September 13, 1924, to parents Leonard and Lucille Ray. She grew up in Fort Gaines, before attending Georgia State College for Women, (now Georgia College and State University), where she graduated in 1946.

Upon graduation, she moved to Atlanta, where she worked for the Social Service Administration for three years, from the time of its inception until her marriage to John W. (Jack) Spears. She devoted the rest of her life to her marriage and to raising her three sons while partnering with her husband in the establishment of his business, Jack Spears, Inc.

Besides family, her interests centered around tennis, which she played competitively into her late '70s, and Bridge, which she enjoyed into her final days.

Marian was the mother of three sons, John W. Spears III, of Atlanta, Leonard Ray Spears of New Orleans and Baldwin County, Alabama, and Clayton G. Spears, of Atlanta, who had passed away only this past September. She was grandmother to John W. (Wil) Spears IV (Tory), and Carolyn S. Luehrs (Corey); and was great-grandmother to seven, ages five to fifteen, to whom she kept an abiding interest until the end. She was a longtime member of Peachtree Presbyterian Church, where she was a member of the Gene Wilson adult Sunday School Class for many years and where she had numerous friends. She is missed by her family and all who knew her.

A service will be planned at Lenbrook Square, for a date to be announced.