As a child his family moved to Newport News, Virginia where he graduated from St. Vincent School. He was the owner of Peninsula Dental Laboratory where he first started working as a teenager. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend. Bernie was a faithful and dedicated member of St. Rose of Lima and Korean Martyrs Catholic Parish.
His parents Florence and Howard Sadler, and Alton Mears preceded him in death. His wife, Theresa, of 62 years, survives Bernie along with his children, Margaret Clark (Kill Devil Hills, NC), Stephanie Mears (Hampton, VA), Allison Sutton (Yorktown, VA), Kathrine Bowlin (Kitty Hawk, NC), Stephen Mears (Hampton, VA), Samantha DeLucia (Kitty Hawk, NC), Bernard “B.J.” Mears (Oak Hill, VA), and Howard Mears (New York City, NY); his sisters, Lynn Moore (Long Beach, MS), Mary Sharpe (Lady Lake, FL), Theresa Larson (Lucuma, NC), and Sarah Kiplinger (Charleston, SC); his eighteen grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at St. Rose of Lima and Korean Martyrs Catholic Parish on Thursday, May 31, 2018. Visitation will be between 10:00 and 11:00 am at the church followed by a funeral mass at 11:00 am. Burial service will follow at Parklawn Memorial Park in Hampton, Virginia.
Arrangements are under the care of Parklawn-Wood Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 2551 N. Armistead Avenue, Hampton, Virginia 23666.
