Melody Spears Recalls Gary's 14 Years of Service as Judge

RISON - Melody Spears simply could not hold back her emotions last Wednesday when Re-New-ing Edinburg hosted a reception honoring her and her late husband, County Judge Gary Spears, inside the county judge's office at the courthouse. Trenna Kemp, president of the community development group at New Edinburg, presented Melody Spears with a plaque featuring a photo of Melody and Gary standing next to the tractor they use on their 10-acre truck patch farm at New Edinburg. The photo was made when they were named the Cleveland County Farm Family of the Year in 2019. As she took possession of the plaque, Melody's emotions took over and she recalled the promise she had made to her husband to complete his term. "I did the best I could do," she told those friends and family that were on hand for the presentation. (continued from page 1) Re-New-ing Edinburg hosted the reception of both Gary and Melody Spears. Her official departure from the office on Dec. 31 marked the official end of Gary Spears' tenure as county judge. Gary Spears died on Jan. 10, 2021, after a three-year battle with cancer. His death came at the mid-point of his four-year term as county judge. His 14 years in office was the longest anyone had ever served in the position. Gary revealed his health issue during the March 2018 meeting of the Cleveland County Quorum Court. Ironically, he said he learned of his diagnosis of colon cancer just a couple of hours after learning that he would once again not have an opponent for the 2018 election. "At noon I found I didn't have an opponent, and at 2:30 I learned I had cancer," Spears told the quorum court that evening. "It went from being a good day to being a bad day." Despite having to undergo chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, Gary Spears stayed on the job after his diagnosis, reporting to his office inside the courthouse on a daily basis. During that time, he guided the county through the COVID p...