Johnnie Ray Spears

The world became a little less bright after the passing of Johnnie Ray Spears, a devoted husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend. Johnnie passed away while resting on the morning of Thursday, March 20, 2025, at the age of 68.

Johnnie Ray Spears was born on September 4, 1956, to the late Lee and Ida Mae Spears in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He was baptized and a member of Mount Moriah Baptist Church and spent most of his days with his mother, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. He was always hailed as the first grandchild in the family, as his mother was the second oldest of ten children. Oftentimes, Ida’s sisters would argue about who was to take care of him and called him their son. He was blessed to spend some time living in Germany with his parents and was overjoyed to return home to his family and many cousins. His love of Harley Davidson motorcycles began early in life. Spending time with Lee, his grandfather, uncles, and cousins riding or working on his bike, he became well known as the “Black Knight.” He attended Kimmons Junior High School and completed his education at Northside High School.

During his time at Northside, he was known to skip school with his friends, one being, Sylvia Page; through this friendship he met the love of his life, Marian Page. They were joined in matrimony on June 7, 1980, and had 3 children, Alesha, Brandon, and Ashley. In 1985, the family moved to Oklahoma City, where he settled his life with Marian and the children at St. Eugene Catholic Church and School. In 2019 he became a member of St. Eugene Catholic Church. He was an active member, helping children participating in confirmation, driving the school bus for Cristo Rey and church bus to pick up members from the nursing home to attend, helped with St. Vincent DePaul and maintenance work on the church bus, attended the Rosary Group, Knights of Columbus, and Small Communities of Faith.

Johnnie devoted his life to his family, friends, and many coworkers. He worked in management with FedEx for 32 years before retirement due to his health. He was beloved by many of his coworkers and friends at FedEx. After his retirement, you could find him on the phone with old coworkers or his cousin, Patrick, about the good old days of FedEx or funny mishaps on the job. He loved receiving phone calls from Jennifer, Harry, Randy, Linda, Stanley (Sylvia), Patrick, and many others from FedEx. He never missed a chance to tell a FedEx driver delivering packages in the neighborhood that he worked there for over 30 years!

He was a believer of knowing and keeping up with family. He spent hours on the phone speaking with his loved ones, laughing over childhood memories or simply asking how they were doing. If you knew Johnnie, you know he could spend hours chatting with his family or working on the family tree. In 2010, according to the official count, he was the oldest of 87 grandchildren and great grandchildren. Never a day went by that he wasn’t thinking or talking about the importance of family and speaking to family often.

Johnnie is survived by his wife of 44 years Marian Spears; son Brandon (Sarah) Spears; two daughters Ashley Spears and Alesha (Kris) Wilson; two sisters, Rochelle Fleming and Michelle Perry; aunts Callie Mae Driver, Pearlie Elam, Fannie (Bobby) Booker, Bridgetta (Mark) Shepherd, Trina Mays; his grandchildren, Azariah Wilson, Kamdin Wilson, Kiara Wilson, Warner Spears, Aria Wilson, Griffin Spears, brothers-in-law (Almond (Shirl) and Louis Jr.), and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He is preceded in death by his mother (Ida), father (Lee), aunt (Katherine), uncles (Jake, Johnnie B., Warner Jr., and Danny Ray), grandparents (Willie Mae and Warner Mays), sisters-in-law (Teresa Alexander and Sylvia Wilson), and in-laws (Erma and Louis Page).

Pallbearers

Archie Jr. Elam, Patrick Elam, Warner “Bird” Mays III, Floyd Jones, Michael Vann Sr., Almond Page, Louis Page Jr., Louis Page III, and Sean Alexander

Expression of gratitude:

Members of the family acknowledge with gratitude and appreciation all messages of love, sympathy, prayers, and concerns for us during this very difficult time. God and Dad are with us. The assurances of these blessings are manifested through our friends. Each of you has truly touched our hearts, thank you. In lieu of flowers, please support the groups Johnnie was active in listed above.

-The Family