Roberta “Lorraine” Spear Obituary (1927 - 2020)

Roberta "Lorraine" Spear, 92 of Gainesville, Florida, passed away on July 19, 2020. Lorraine was born in Steubenville, Ohio on September 18, 1927 to her parents Jessie Mae and James Doyle Durbin. Lorraine attended Steubenville High School, and worked in a tin mill in Weirton, West Virginia during World War II as a "tin flipper". She moved to Gainesville in 1954 with her husband and two children. She was an avid sports fan and was an amazing softball pitcher on a league in Steubenville before moving to Florida. She was an incredible homemaker and mother, and eventually began working at The Twig in the Gainesville Mall. After the Gainesville Mall closed, she began working at Chesnut's Office Supply downtown. She worked there for many years until it closed and she retired in 1994. She then lived the next 25 years with her daughter and son-in-law, Nancy and Leonard Sherouse, until her passing. She was a funny person with a very dry sense of humor, as was known to anyone who spent any time with her. She was also a huge Gator sports fan, loved pro baseball, chardonnay with an ice cube, playing the lotto, and scratch-off tickets. She was a loving and very hands on grandmother to all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, who will miss her dearly. She is preceded in death by her two brothers Ralph (Rena) and Arthur Durbin, and four sisters Thelma (Buzz) Caldwell, Ruth (Joe) Gill, Marie Tongel, and Maxine Durbin who died in childhood. She is survived by her children Allan (Sylvia) Ward Spear II and Nancy (Leonard) Spear Sherouse, her grandchildren Charles Lee Williams II, Allan (Vivian) Ward Spear III, Michael Raymond Williams, step granddaughter Kristy Phillips, and step grandson Leonard Heith Sherouse, and her great grandchildren Allan Ward Spear IV, Tristan Charles Spear, Morgan Lydia Spear, Farrah Rae Williams, and Davis Lorraine Williams, step great grandsons Wesley Heith Sherouse, and Guy Leonard Sherouse. A private family remembrance will be at a later date. For those who wish, contributions may be made to Haven Hospice 4200 NW 90th Blvd. Gainesville, FL 32606. Arrangements are in the care of MILAM FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICES 311 S. Main Street Gainesville, FL 32601 (352) 376-5361 www.milamfh.com