Sheldon “Bill” Richmond Shearer

September 24, 1925 - February 18, 2020

94 year old, life long resident of Norwalk, Sheldon “Bill” Shearer passes away.
Sheldon “Bill” Richmond Shearer passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 18, 2020 in Santa Barbara, CA where he resided for the past 9 months to be close to his son, Glenn, who was his loving caregiver. Bill was born on September 24, 1925 in Santa Ana, California to Lester Walter Shearer and Anna Mae Keins. Bill was married to Kathryn Bottema in Anaheim, California on June 17, 1949 for 58 years until she passed away on June 15, 2007. Bill and Kathryn had two sons, Glenn and Garry Shearer.
Bill is survived by his son, Glenn Shearer and his wife, Sandy Shearer; Granddaughter, Suzanne Shearer, great-grandchildren Luke and Lucy; Granddaughter, Stacy Shearer, great-granddaughter, Amora; Granddaughter, Mandy Smith and her husband, Tim Smith, great-grandchildren, Corey, Collin, and Madeline; Grandson, Christian Herbst, great-grandchildren, Logan and Adri; Grandson Matt Hayes and wife Rio Hayes, great-grandchildren, Owen, Henson, and Hazel; Grandson Jacob Shearer; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Bill is preceded in death by his second son, Garry Shearer and his wife Kathy Shearer.
Bill served in the United States Navy from May 04, 1943 to December 13, 1945 and was stationed in the Solomon Islands during WWII. Bill loved sharing stories and one story he loved telling is when he was in the 6th grade. He and his friends would spin a globe and whatever location they pointed to is where they would go. Bill spun the globe and it landed on New Caledonia. He had never heard of New Caledonia, but years later when he joined the military his first stop was in New Caledonia.
Bill also served in the United States Air Force from August 10, 1950 to November 07, 1951. He was stationed in Japan during the Korean War.
Bill was a mail carrier for the post office in Norwalk, California from the late 1940’s to 1958. He retired from Laura Scudder’s, where he was a route driver from 1958 to 1980.
If you knew Bill, you knew he was a prankster. He loved telling jokes and one of his favorite things to say were that his initials were “B.S.” Bill enjoyed socializing with his friends. You could find him every morning riding his scooter down to the Donut King where he enjoyed a donut and coffee or at the bingo hall shouting “BINGO” any chance he had. Bill had a passion for birds. He had aviaries in his backyard filled with finch, cockatiels, lovebirds, and parakeets. His favorite birds were his parrots.
Bill loved to help people and his biggest accomplishment in life was working for the Angel Tree in Norwalk. He loved seeing the children’s smiles on their faces when they got a gift. Bill received many awards including Citizen of the Year for Norwalk, Lifetime Achievement Award, and an award from the County of Los Angeles for his work with Angel Tree.
Bill’s greatest piece of advice, “To live a long happy life, treat people the way you want them to treat you and BE NICE, BE NICE, BE NICE!”
Services will be held at Lakewood Village Community Church located at 4515 Sunfield Avenue, Long Beach, California, 90808 on March 20, 2020 at 1:00 PM.