A child once called out, "Here comes Reverend Right Spirit." Reverend Dr. Robert Wright Spears, age 102, passed away on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at Silver Bluff Nursing Home in Canton, North Carolina. He was born on October 20, 1912 in Clio, South Carolina, son of the late Charles Otho and Mary Jane Wright Spears. He was married on December 24, 1935 to Mary Blue Smith Spears who preceded him in death on January 31, 1993. Dr. Spears earned his B.A. Degree (Phi Beta Kappa) from Wofford College in 1933 and his B.D. Degree from Duke Divinity School in 1936 and was the 1996 Duke Divinity School Distinguished Alumnus. Dr. Spears was a United Methodist minister who was licensed to preach on April 15, 1930; admitted into the South Carolina Conference in full connection on November 11, 1937; and ordained elder on November 12, 1939. He received honorary doctorates from Wofford College, Columbia College of South Carolina, and Baker University of Baldwin City, Kansas. He was also a pastor and college president in South Carolina. His pastoral appointments were: Ruby Charge; Conference Director of Youth Ministry; Trinity, Bamberg; Manning; Trinity, Charleston and Central, Florence. From 1951–77, he was president of United Methodist related Columbia College of South Carolina. A college for women, Columbia adopted a racially inclusive admissions policy in 1966. Dr. Spears was five times a delegate to his church's General Conference and six times to its Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. In the denomination, he served on the General Board of Education and the University Senate. In the Jurisdiction, he was president of the Lake Junaluska Board of Trustees. His annual conference services included chairing the Board of Church Extension and the Board of Christian Social Concerns. Ecumenically in South Carolina, he was president of the Christian Action Council. He was also a member of the board of the South Carolina Department of Social Services. The Spears retired to Lake Junaluska, North Carolina in 1977 and Dr. Spears was active in the church and community to the close of his life. He and a colleague led the rejuvenation of the Haywood County United Way Campaign. He provided direction for a food drive for Haywood Christian Ministry. He coordinated establishment of an annual canned goods food collection by the US Postal Service carriers. He helped establish a support group for persons affected by HIV/AIDS. He was using his influence to promote full acceptance of persons of same sex orientation. Responding to Mary Blue's struggles with Alzheimer's disease, he organized the Haywood County Alzheimer's Memory Walk and was the primary force behind the Annual Alzheimer's Golf Tournament. He also served as a volunteer chaplain at Silver Bluff. His latest initiative was the now Annual Lake Junaluska Peace Conference, which brings national and international scholars and activists to our community. Earlier on, he was Dean of Lake Junaluska's Memorial Chapel, interim pastor of Washington Street United Methodist Church in Columbia, South Carolina and interim president of Baker University. Dr. Spears gave his body to the Anatomical Program of Duke Medical School. He authored two works: Journey Toward Unity: The Christian Action Council, 1933––1983 and One in the Spirit: Ministry for Change in South Carolina (1997). Dr. Spears is survived by his daughters, Mary Ann Brockwell (Charles) and Nancy Lynn Rowden; five grandchildren, Lynn Brockwell-Carey (Michael), Steve Brockwell (Ellen), Larry Percival (Marcie), Robert Percival (Michelle) and Ray Rowden; twelve great-grandchildren, Michelle and Deborah Carey, Daniel, Nicole and Eric Brockwell, Madeleine, Grace and Caroline Percival, Megan and Xavier Forrest and Savannah and Samuel Rowden; and one great-great-grandchild, Makayla Grant. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2015 at the First United Methodist Church of Waynesville with Reverend Sanford L. Giles Jr., Reverend Garland Young and Reverend George Thompson officiating. The family will receive friends following the service at the church. Donations may be made to Columbia College, 1301 Columbia College Drive, Columbia, SC 29203; Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, P.O. Box 67, Lake Junaluska, NC 28745; or the Alzheimer's Association, 3800 Shamrock Dr., Charlotte, NC 28215 (marked for Haywood County Memory Walk). "Keep smiling!" was a motto Wright learned from his father and it marked his approach to life and people. In family prayer recently, he petitioned God to grant us "love and good will and a bright spirit." See www.honoringdrspears.com.