Obituaries
By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: September 8, 2008
William E. Fears
ONANCOCK—William E. Fears, a retired attorney who represented the Eastern Shore in the Virginia Senate for 24 years, died Aug. 25. He was 87.
A native of Jonesboro, Ark., Mr. Fears received a degree in metallurgical engineering from Yale University and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati. He served as lieutenant in the Army Air Corps in England and France during World War II.
Mr. Fears worked as a patent attorney in Pittsburgh and New York before moving to Accomac, his wife’s hometown, in 1950. He practiced law there for 50 years and served as Accomack County commonwealth’s attorney before his election to the Senate.
A colorful speaker, he was among the most quoted legislators during his tenure in the Senate. One such comment during a debate over legislation for stricter drunken driving laws helped defeat him in his bid for another term in 1991. He said the legislation would “take all the sport out of drinking and driving.”
Mr. Fears is survived by Belle DeCormis Fears, his wife of 64 years, a son, a daughter and several grandchildren.
George Rogers Clark Stuart
ABINGDON—George Rogers Clark Stuart, a retired attorney and a former member of the House of Delegates and a past president of the Virginia Bar Association, died Aug. 23. He was 83.
A lifelong resident of Abingdon, Mr. Stuart served in the 1st Infantry Division in Belgium and Germany and participated in the battles of the Bulge and the Bridge at Remagen. After his military service, Mr. Stuart graduated from the University of Virginia law school and practiced law for 40 years, first with the firm of Burns & Lively in Lebanon and then with what is now PennStuart in Abingdon.
He was elected president of the Virginia Bar Association in 1969 and served two terms in the General Assembly in the early 1970s. He was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation and the American Law Institute.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Baker Stuart, two daughters, two stepchildren and two grandchildren.
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