Kent County MI Archives News.....Two families grieve as friends die in crash November 11, 2004
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Marcia Shears u08554@hotmail.com September 29, 2006, 1:11 pm

Grand Rapids Press; Grand Rapids, Kent Co., MI; Thursday, 11 Nov 2004, Page B3, By Nate Reens November 11, 2004
Two families grieve as friends die in crash

They are killed in 1-vehicle accident in Georgia (should be 11-vehicle)

    After their spouses died within months of each other seven years ago, 
Joyce Callen and Otis Shears Jr. engaged in conversations that grew into a 
close friendship.  
    Each October, Callen, 71, of Sparta and Shears, 78 of Comstock Park, 
traveled together to Orange City, Fla., for the winter.  They would visit flea 
markets, meet friends for breakfast and once took a weeklong cruise together.  
    Callen and Shears were killed Oct. 30 in an 11-vehicle pileup on Int. 75 
in Tifton, GA., as they traveled south, family members said.  
    “It’s a great loss for both families,” said Richard Callen, one of Joyce 
Callen’s four children.  “They were the best of friends and both had quite a 
hard time losing their spouses... they were good for one another.”  
    Callen said his mother and Shears were southbound on Int. 75 when a small 
crash led to the pileup, which also resulted in the death of two Canadiens, 
residents.  A garbage truck rammed into the Pontiac Grand Prix Shears was 
driving, Georgia State Police said.  Fog may have been responsible for the 
multiple-vehicle crash.  
    Richard Callen Believes his mother and Shears, who he calls “Bud,” were 
stopped clear of the pileup when their car was rear-ended.  
    The Shears family held funeral services for Otis Shears on Monday.  
    Joyce Callen will be laid to rest at 11 a.m. Friday at Camp Lake Baptist 
Church.  Friends may meet the family for visitation at the Hessel-Cheslek 
Funeral Home in Sparta from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today.

Additional Comments:
Otis was the son of Otis SHEARS and Eleanor OVERLA.  Otis first wife was 
Lillian Lorain.  Lillian died 14 Feb 1994.  Otis and Lillian's children were 
Harold and Terry SHEARS.  Otis's second wife was Shirley A. JOHNSON.  Shirley 
died 13 May 1998.

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