Horace Gilbert Shearer passed away on July 11, 2019 at home surrounded by family and loved ones. Horace was born November 29, 1928 to Charles and Marguerite (DeForest) Shearer. He was raised in Roxbury and spent summers working at his family’s cottage at Oaks Bluff on Martha’s Vineyard. He joined the U.S. Army at the end of WWII and served in Seattle, Washington and Washington, D.C.
Following his military service, he began working cleaning cages at the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital and was inspired by the veterinarians to pursue his interest in the medical field. He used the GI Bill to attend the Wilson School of Medical Technology. He began a lifelong career in the field of medical technology in various laboratories at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Jamaica Plain.
In the mid-fifties, while working days at the VA, he began building his own medical diagnostic laboratory. In 1970, he left the VA to devote his energies to running Roxbury Medical Laboratory, which was at one point the largest minority-owned medical diagnostic laboratory on the East Coast.
Horace’s motto was “Don’t retire; inspire”. He inspired many young people in his community to pursue careers in medical technology, often serving as a first employer.
In addition to becoming a successful businessman, he also loved fishing and was eager to join a group of his friends to form the Sea & Surf Anglers Club, a deep-sea sport fishing club that fished the waters off Cape Cod and Bermuda in tournaments against the Blue Waters Anglers Club of Bermuda. Horace visited Bermuda every other year for over fifty years. He considered the members of the Blue Water Anglers Club family and Bermuda his second home. He was awarded honorary membership in the Blue Waters Club on the occasion of that club’s 60th Anniversary.
He was also very interested in making sure young people had the opportunity to be on the ocean and learn to fish. He volunteered his time with the Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts at Northeastern University to organize fishing trips for local youth.
Horace was preceded in death by his loving wife, Mildred, sisters Marguerite, Celeste, and Beatrice, brothers Charles, Lloyd, Alexander, and Franklin. He is survived by his sisters Delores Nichols, (and brother-in-law Frank), Ruth Collins, and sister-in-law Shirley Toomer, daughters Carmen Mulhern (and son-in-law Warren “Jay”), Carol Shearer-Best (and son-in-law Joseph) and son Haji (and daughter-in-law Jasmin), grandchildren Patanjali, Sakeena, Zenzele, Ayinde, and Mark, and many loving nieces and nephews.
Family and friends are invited to attend a visiting with Family, on Wednesday, July 17, from 6 – 8 pm at the Joseph Russo Funeral Home, 814 American Legion Highway, Roslindale. Funeral Services, Thursday, July 18, at 10 am at the United House of Prayer, 206 Seaver Street, Dorchester. The Committal will be in Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Plain. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts, 136 Warren Street, Roxbury, MA 02119 for the Horace Shearer Memorial Youth Fishing Trip .or going to https://www.cbmm.net/memorial