Marilyn Bradley "Nicki" Shearer

1926 - 2016

Marilyn ("Nicki") Bradley Shearer, aged 89, a lifelong Sacramento resident, went to be with the Lord on March 22, 2016 while hospitalized for pneumonia. She leaves behind her devoted sons, Kerry (Christi), Kirt (Diana); loving grandchildren, Christopher (Laura), Steven (Alyssa), Miranda, Emily, step-grandchild, Daniel Grove; and precious great-grandchildren, Evelyn and William. She was preceded in death by her parents, Harry and Coral Bradley; her former husband, Allen Shearer; and her sister, Nadine Hooper (Harley). Nicki was born in Sacramento on June 4, 1926, and attended C.K. McClatchy High School. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with honors and married Allen R. Shearer, with whom she had two sons, Kerry and Kirt. Nicki helped launch Sacramento's KVIE-TV 6 (PBS) in 1959, became a board member, and was elected as the station's first female Board President. She served for many years as a volunteer for KVIE, a substitute school teacher, and later a full-time teacher at the highly-regarded Brookfield Elementary School. In Jan. 1977, she left her teaching position and took a giant leap to full-time TV by accepting a position as Executive Director of fundraising at WHA-TV in Madison, WI. In May, 1978, she returned to Sacramento as Development Director for KVIE, raised tens of millions of dollars for the station over her career, and repeatedly achieved national recognition for her expertise. Nicki served for a period as KVIE Interim Station Manager. She also discovered and brought to a national TV audience the "granddaddy of TV motivational speakers," Dr. Leo Buscaglia. Nicki was Executive Producer of a series of hugely popular Leo TV shows taped for PBS stations. After retirement, she served for years as a fundraising consultant. Until as few as two weeks before her death, Nicki was still an active volunteer running committees at the Campus Commons Nepenthe Homeowner's Association, serving with the Sacramento chapter of the Peripheral Neuropathy Association, playing bridge weekly, and doing Tai Chi workouts. Nicki will be remembered for her incredible generosity, exceptional sense of humor, positive outlook, management expertise, and willingness to help others. Her most treasured times involved being with the whole family at Mar Vista Cabins at Anchor Bay on California's north coast, where she had vacationed annually since childhood. Nicki was a treasure, and words cannot begin to express how much we all miss her. A memorial service celebrating Nicki's life will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday May 7, 2016, at Northminster Church, 3235 Pope Ave., Sacramento. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Western Neuropathy Association (at www.pnhelp. org), or KVIE Channel 6 (at www.KVIE.com/support)