Rodney L. Spears

Rodney was preceded in death by his mother, Ruth Spears and his father Clarence “Shorty” Spears. Rodney was a wonderful Husband, Dad, Paw-Paw, and RaRa. He is survived by the love of his life, Kathy Spears, his wife of 57 years. His son, Scott Spears (Danna), his daughter Shannon Spears Howard (Jim), his grandchildren Drew Howard Northrop (Dustin), Scotty Wayne Spears (Lizzie), Sophia Spears, and his beautiful great-grandchildren Ridge and Rylee Northrop and Wrenley Birmingham. Survivors also include his sister Sylvia Fincher, his brother Alan Spears (Fe), several nieces, nephews, and close family friends.

If there was one word to describe Rodney, it would be service. Service to his country and service to his community. He graduated from Martin Berhman High School in 1965 and immediately enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He served one tour in Vietnam as a Marine Corps Infantryman. Following his service in the Corps, he began his law enforcement career with the New Orleans Police Department, where he served for 20 years as an EMT, Patrolman, and Detective. After retirement and relocating his family to Poplarville MS, Rodney worked Private Security at Stennis Space Center. He later joined the Pearl River County Sheriff Department as their Chief Investigator and later became the Chief Deputy. After his service with the Sheriff’s Department, he joined the MS Department of Corrections until his full retirement in 2010.

Full retirement allowed him the time to do what he loved the most. It allowed him and Kathy the chance to spend more time watching and spoiling their grandchildren. Whether it was a 3-hour drive to watch Scotty Wayne play baseball, a 2-hour drive to watch Sophia play tennis, or an 18 hour-drive to watch Drew run barrels, you could bet Rodney was there. He never missed an event. Later in life his focus turned to completely spoiling his great-grandchildren, and he was very good at it. Rodney also enjoyed the regular get togethers with his longtime High School friends, affectionately known as “The Crabby Bunch”.

Rodney’s Memorial Service will be held at White Funeral Home in Poplarville MS on Saturday March 7th. Visitation will be from 10am-12pm, followed by a burial service with Military Honors at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Poplarville.

The Spears Family would like to invite extended family and friends to join them afterward for a time of fellowship at the Poplarville National Guard Armory and Readiness Center located at 100 Rodeo Street, Poplarville, MS 39470.

In lieu of flowers, Rodney’s wishes were to have donations made to one, or all, of his favorite charities. Tunnel to Towers (t2t.org), Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org) and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org)