William Bernard Sears Sr (1911 - 1992)

Born 28 Mar 1911 in Aitkin, Minnesota, United States

Ancestors

Died 25 Mar 1992 at age 80 in Tuscon, Arizona, United States

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Biography

William Sears Sr is Notable.

William Bernard Sears Sr. was born on March 25, 1911 in Aitkin, Minnesota, United States. His parents were Frank Sears, a house painter, and Ethel Wagner.

The 1920 U.S. Census shows the Sears family living on 6th Street North in the mining town of Crosby Village, Crow Wing, Minnesota.^[1] W. Bernard, age 8, is listed with his parents and three sisters: Ethel M., age 16; Frances, age 14; Ella G., age 11. All of the children were born in Minnesota. The parents were born in Maine (Frank) and Iowa (Ethel).

By 1930, the family had moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bernard or "Bud", as he was called then, graduated from West Division High School (now known as Milwaukee High School of the Arts) that same year. His yearbook lists him as a sports writer for the school newspaper^[2] and one of the stars of the senior class play: The Quest.^[3] In the 1930 U.S. Census, William B. Sears, age 19, is enumerated in the home of his parents at 1714 Juneau Avenue.^[4] His father, Frank, worked as a painter for a decorating business. There was only one other sibling in the household: Helen G., age 21.

Bernard Sears achieved some success as a playwright during the 1930s. Two of his works, "Rooming House" and "Dad Cashes In", won awards from the Wisconsin Dramatic Guild in 1933 and 1936 respectively^[5]; the latter was performed by amateur acting troupes all over the country.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

It was also during this time that he married his first wife, Kathleen Elma Fox.^[11] They lived together in Manitowac, Wisconsin, where William worked as the chief announcer for WOMT Radio^[12] , and had two children: William B. Sears Jr and Michael. Sadly, Kathleen was taken ill with tuberculosis in 1937^[13] and died a year later.^[11]

Soon after, Sears met the woman who would become his second wife: Marguerite Reimer. The newly-blended family moved to Salt Lake City in 1939, and the 1940 U.S. Census shows them living at 2667 Beverly Street.^[14] William, age 28, is listed as an assistant manager at a radio station (KUTA); also in the household are his wife, age 27; two sons, ages 5 and 2 respectively, and a housekeeper. Marguerite, a member of the Baha'i Faith, introduced her husband to the teachings of her religion, and by the end of 1940, he too was a Baha'i.^[15][16]

Over the next decade, the Sears family criss-crossed the American continent, assisting local Baha'i communities and giving talks about their Faith. William worked for at least five different radio stations over this period, including a sportscasting job for WCAU in Philadelphia which eventually led to four television shows on its sister station (WCAU-TV Channel 10):^[17]

• The Sports Page With Bill Sears (August/September 1948)
• The Four-Leaf Clover With Bill Sears (September 1948)
• The Bill Sears Show (1950-53; Emmy Award for Best Sports Series in 1951^[18])
• In The Park (1951-53)

The latter was produced in partnership with Paul and Mary Ritts^[19], who created and voiced Sears's puppet co-stars.

On June 24, 1953, William Sears boarded a ship to Africa with his wife and youngest son.^[20] The Philadelphia Inquirer excitedly reported that the family was "...about to rent a car and criss-cross the terrain to the very hilt of their six month passport".^[21] However, six months turned into several years as their trip coincidentally coincided with the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, announcing a Ten Year Crusade to bring the Baha'i message to all corners of the globe. William Sears effectively walked away from his lucrative career in America and settled on a farm about 25 kilometers outside of Johannesburg, where he and his wife conducted what he later called "a permanent open house" with Baha'i meetings and classes.^[16] He even launched his own radio program, "That Man Sears", with a signature sign-off that soon became familiar all over the continent: "Tot siens, goodnight, it’s been a pleasure”.^[22]

In 1954, he was appointed to the Auxiliary Board, a newly-created Baha'i institution that assisted the Hands of the Cause. He traveled to Haifa that same year on Baha'i pilgrimage and met Shoghi Effendi, an experience he later described:

"I had made my living by words, but could think of nothing to say in his presence. My words were feeble, clumsy and uncertain. It was as though a glib tongue had been made fearful that it might try to say something witty or clever. This Guardian could be impressed by only one thing, service to the Faith. Nothing could ever influence his judgement, not wealth, position, power or friendship… One thing was apparent to me at once. My life was changing. My concept of the Faith, of teaching, of service. None of these would ever be the same again…"^[23]

In October 1957, William Sears was appointed to the station of a Hand of the Cause of God.^[16] Over the next three decades, he traveled to over 60 countries in support of Baha'i activities, from large cities to the most remote indigenous communities. He also wrote at least 13 books on Baha'i history and stories of his experiences as a Baha'i pioneer.

In 1979, he recorded a children's record called "Happy Ayyam-i-Ha with William Sears and the Ayyam-i-Ha Kids", in which he called himself Grandfather to all American Baha'i children.^[24] The album won that year's Christian Angel Award for Best Children's Record, the first non-Christian album to win.^[25]

Mr. and Mrs. Sears eventually returned to the U.S., and settled in Tuscon, Arizona in the mid-1980s.^[26] Despite failing health, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Desert Rose Baha'i School (now a permanent Institute)^[27], and attended its annual Thanksgiving sessions right up to his death.^[28]

William Bernard Sears Sr. died in his sleep on March 25, 1992.^[26][29][30] The Universal House of Justice wrote in a telegram to the Baha'i world:

OUR HEARTS DEEPLY SADDENED, BAHA’I WORLD GREATLY DEPRIVED, BY PASSING HAND CAUSE GOD WILLIAM SEARS, VIBRANT, CONSECRATED, STOUT-HEARTED STANDARD-BEARER FAITH BAHA’U’LLAH. HIS MORE THAN HALF-CENTURY UNBROKEN SERVICE MARKED BY UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO BELOVED GUARDIAN, INFECTIOUS ENTHUSIASM FOR TEACHING, GALVANIZING SENSE DRAMA, DISARMING HUMOUR, SPECIAL LOVE CHILDREN, UNFLAGGING DETERMINATION IN FACE DIFFICULTIES.

HE WILL EVER BE REMEMBERED FOR DEDICATING FULL RANGE HIS CREATIVE AND ENERGETIC CAPACITIES AS WRITER, EDITOR, LECTURER, RADIO AND TELEVISION PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, TO HIS VARIED SERVICES AS TRAVELING TEACHER TO NUMEROUS COUNTRIES, PARTICULARLY IN THE AMERICAS, AND AS PIONEER TO AFRICA WHERE HE WAS MEMBER OF AUXILLARY BOARD AND THE NATIONAL SPIRITUALLY ASSEMBLY SOUTH AND WEST AFRICA WHEN IN 1957 HE WAS ELEVATED RANK HAND CAUSE. HE LATER SERVED AS MEMBER BODY HANDS HOLY LAND.

HIS LOSS ACUTELY FELT IN NORTH AMERICA WHERE HE EXPENDED LAST MEASURE HIS EBBING STRENGTH PROMOTION TEACHING ACTIVITIES. DYNAMIC EFFECTS HIS WORK ENDURE THROUGH HIS MANY BOOKS AND RECORDINGS. GENERATIONS TO COME WILL REJOICE IN RICH LEGACY LEFT THEM THROUGH HIS HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS. FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS ILLUSTRIOUS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.

ADVISE FRIENDS THROUGHOUT WORLD COMMEMORATE HIS PASSING. REQUEST BEFITTING MEMORIAL SERVICES IN HIS HONOUR ALL HOUSES WORSHIP.^[16][22]

He was buried at East Lawn Palms Cemetery in Tuscon, Arizona.^[31][32]

Bibliography

• God Loves Laughter (1960)

• Release The Sun (1960)

• Thief In The Night: The Case of the Missing Millenium (1961)

• The Prisoner and the Kings: How One Man Changed the Course of History (1st ed. 1969; 2nd ed. 2007)

• The Flame: The Story of Lua co-written with Robert Quigley (1972)

• The Wine of Astonishment (1974)

• A Cry From The Heart: The Baha'is In Iran (1982)

• All Flags Flying (1985)

• Prince of Peace (1986)

• Run To Glory! (1989)

• Tokoloshe!: I married eleven dachshunds! co-written with Marguerite Sears (1990)

• In Grandfather's Barn published posthumously (1997)

• The Half-Inch Prophecy published posthumously (2000)

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWY7-BCN : accessed 22 February 2017), W Bernard Sears in household of Frank C Sears, Crosby, Crow Wing, Minnesota, United States; citing ED 123, sheet 19B, line 88, family 398, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 829; FHL microfilm 1,820,829.
2. ↑ West Division High School School, The Comet (n.p., 1930), p. 95; "U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 March 2017)
3. ↑ West Division High School School, The Comet (n.p., 1930), p. 31; "U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012," Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 March 2017)
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X994-Y8D : accessed 22 February 2017), William B Sears in household of Frank C Sears, Milwaukee (Districts 1-250), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 23, sheet 5B, line 64, family 46, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2585; FHL microfilm 2,342,319.
5. ↑ "Production Honors In Rural Play Go To Allenville Man", The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin), April 8, 1933. Accessed on March 1, 2017. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9098370/bernard_sears_aka_william_bernard/
6. ↑ "Amateur Actors To Compete In Event", The Evening Times (Sayre, Pennsylvania), November 29, 1935. Accessed on March 1, 2017. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/96246168/
7. ↑ "Comedies To Be Given Friday Eve", The Eugene Guard (Eugene, Oregon), April 3, 1936. Accessed on March 1, 2017. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/153647107/
8. ↑ "Dramatic Club Delights Crowd", New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania), April 18, 1936. Accessed on March 1, 2017. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/73265780/
9. ↑ "Six Schools Participate In Clay County Play Festival", The Emporia Gazette (Emporia, Kansas), November 19, 1936. Accessed on March 1, 2017. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/11348750/
10. ↑ "College Players Play Successes Following Performances", The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), May 9, 1937. p. 23. Accessed March 1, 2017. GenealogyBank http://www.genealogybank.com
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Obituary - "Kathleen M. Sears", Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), September 22, 1938. p. 34. Accessed on March 1, 2017. GenealogyBank http://www.genealogybank.com
12. ↑ "U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995", database with images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 March 2017), Wm Sears, 207 Marshall, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Chief Announcer.
13. ↑ Report of the County Judge on Tubercular Patients, Manitowoc Herald-Times (Manitowac, Wisconsin), March 22, 1938. Accessed on February 23, 2017. Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9098553/kathleen_sears_hospitalized_at_maple/
14. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VT4N-N2S : accessed 22 February 2017), Wm B Gears, Ward 6, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City Precinct, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 30-59, sheet 13A, line 15, family 248, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4224.
15. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "William Sears (Bahá'í)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Sears_(Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD)&oldid=762526368 (accessed March 8, 2017).
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3} Najibi, Neda Nessir. "William Sears." Baha'i Chronicles. April 15, 2015. Accessed March 1, 2017. http://bahaichronicles.org/william-sears-neda-typing-direct-from-lights-of-fortitude/.
17. ↑ "Biography of Bill Sears." Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. 2002. Accessed March 9, 2017. http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/billsearsbio.html.
18. ↑ Adamson, Hugh C. Historical Dictionary of the Baha'i Faith. 2nd ed. Landham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007.
19. ↑ McLellan, Dennis. "Mary Ritts, 95; She and Husband Had a Long TV Run With Ritts Puppets." The Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2006. Accessed March 9, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/25/local/me-ritts25.
20. ↑ "U.S., Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1914-1965", database with images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Mar 2017), William Sears, 25 Jun 1953, AFRICAN SUN, New York, New York, USA. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels and Airplanes Departing from New York, New York, 07/01/1948-12/31/1956; NAI Number: 3335533; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: A4169; NARA Roll Number: 220
21. ↑ Jennings, Judy. "Monday Morning Gossip", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10 August 1953. Accessed on 9 March 2017. Fultonhistory.com http://www.fultonhistory.com
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} "Heroes, Heroines, and Hands", Youth Empowerment (Module 3), Core Curriculum for Spiritual Education. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, 2010. Accessed on 16 March 2017. http://core-curriculum.bahai.us/downloads/2009_0818_Youth_Empowerment_Heroes_and_Heroines_Resource.pdf
23. ↑ Harper, Barron Deems. Lights of Fortitude: Glimpses into the lives of the Hands of the Cause of God. Oxford: George Ronald, 2007.
24. ↑ Sears, William, Danny Deardorff, and Joyce Deardorff. Happy Ayyam-I-Ha. Pavon International, original recorded 1979. LP.; remastered 1996, CD.
25. ↑ "William Sears & The A'yyám-i-Há Kids - Happy A'yyám-i-Há." 9Star: The Best In Baha'i-Inspired Media. 2017. Accessed March 16, 2017. https://9starmedia.com/william-sears-happy-ayyamiha
26. ↑ ^{26.0 26.1} Arizona Daily Star, The, Tucson, Arizona, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FF08B4FBA78D142-0FF08B4FBA78D142 : accessed 15 March 2017) William Bernard Sears
27. ↑ "History." Desert Rose Baha'i Institute. Accessed March 16, 2017. http://www.drbi.org/DRBI/drbI-about-us-history-9.html.
28. ↑ As remembered by V. Majewski
29. ↑ Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FDC12B19D7D6047-0FDC12B19D7D6047 : accessed 15 March 2017) Mr William Sears
30. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FF51CDE859FBC8D-0FF51CDE859FBC8D : accessed 15 March 2017) William Sears
31. ↑ "BillionGraves Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WV-8F97 : 31 August 2016), William Sears, died 25 Mar 1992; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at East Lawn Palms Cemetery, Tucson, Pima, Arizona, United States.
32. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 13629045 in East Lawn Palms Cemetery & Mortuary, Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, USA. Mar. 28, 1911 - Mar. 25, 1992

See also:

• "Brasil, Cartões de Imigração, 1900-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KC68-RZ2 : 1 December 2015), William Bernard Sears, Immigration; citing 1960, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (National Archives, Rio de Janeiro).
• "Brasil, Cartões de Imigração, 1900-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCXH-DBG : 1 December 2015), William Bernard Sears, Immigration; citing 1962, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (National Archives, Rio de Janeiro).
• William Sears on Bahaipedia