Darwin Spear

Let me tell you about a man who was very special and loved by many. Darwin was a husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.Darwin was a veteran. He served his country in the Army during the Vietnam War. Following the war, he met his beautiful wife and they were married. The two were married for 47 years before Heaven called him home. During that time, he worked several years in construction. He and his wife had two sons and a daughter. Darwin was then hired to work for the City of Grand Haven and stayed there until his retirement. As fate would have it, one of his co-workers would become his daughter’s husband. His daughter jokes that she was given an arranged marriage.When Darwin’s wife retired, they began to travel by motor home. Among their adventures on the road, they found a spot in Abbeville, Louisiana. This town had a charm to them they couldn’t resist. It was there that they would spend their time during the Michigan winters. However, as time went on, their traveling had begun to stay closer to home. This allowed them to spend a lot of their time watching the great-grandkids grow, which they cherished very much.Darwin started to go to car shows and found a love for hot rods. He enjoyed going to them so much that he bought his own hot rod, gave it a P.O.W. sticker to represent his Veteran pride, and started participating in the car shows. His car would even receive awards! Then one day he came across the vehicle of his dreams. It was a red truck (the color used in his Donor Quilt square) that was pieced together with seven different vehicles – which was the very reason that he called it “The Mutt”. When the Mutt started making appearances in the car shows, it was the talk of the town! Trophies and awards flooded in. Darwin’s sons had purchased their own hot rods to join all the fun and then it became a contest to see who could bring in more ribbons and plaques; sometimes a son would beat him and he would be so proud.Darwin was a great part of the family. You couldn’t ask for a better father or role model. He was awesome and it was always a delight to be around him. Each day he is missed deeply.Whenever anyone would ask Darwin how he was doing, his response every time was simply…“I’m still here!”Those words say it all, and they are the centerpiece of his quilt square.The family loves you, and we will miss you until we see you again.