WILLIAM F. "BILL" SPEARS, 83, of Cherokee, Iowa, passed away on Friday, November 21, 2025 at Cherokee Regional Medical Center,

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 26, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa.  Pastor Barb Dinelli will officiate.  Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery at Cherokee, Iowa.  Visitation will take place on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with the family present from 5-7:00 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home.  Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials in Bill's honor to the Quimby Golf Course.

Bill was born on December 7, 1941 to Joyce and Jean (Reck) Spears at Shamokin, Pennsylvania.  He graduated from Shamokin High School in 1960.  He received the 6th man All-State high school basketball honors. He earned basketball scholarships to continue his education at both Independence Junior College and Yankton College.  He earned a Bachelor's degree in education from Yankton College in 1965.  He was inducted into the Yankton College Hall of Fame in 2014 for his basketball career.

He was united in marriage to Janice Strehlow on June 4, 1966 at Geddes, South Dakota.  Bill taught at Canistota High School in South Dakota for two years before moving to Cherokee in 1967.  He worked at the Immaculate Conception High School for two years and then began as a teacher at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute for 30 years until his retirement in 2001.

Bill loved playing golf, basketball, softball, and bowling.  He enjoyed watching almost all sports.  He volunteered at the Cherokee Tomahawk Relays for many years.  He got a hole-in-one finally while golfing with friends in Branson, Missouri.

He was preceded in death by his parents, mother-in-law and father-in-law, Lillian and Floyd Strehlow, siblings John Spears, James Spears, Genevieve "Jeanne" Spears Kerstetter, and sister-in-law Mary (Strehlow) Zacharias.

Bill will be lovingly remembered by his wife Janice Spears of Cherokee, Iowa; three children Debra (Kevin) Trojanowski of Bellevue, Nebraska, Jason Spears of Larrabee, Iowa, and Tom (Charlotte Minor) Spears of Lennox, South Dakota; five grandchildren Alex (Mya Flores) Trojanowski, Dahlia Trojanowski, Tim Trojanowski, Mae Trojanowski, and Halie (Jason Hammer) Spears; two great grandchildren Amara and Archie Trojanowski; brothers Robert Spears of Shamokin, Pennsylvania; brothers-in-law Donald "Doc" Kerstetter of Shamokin, Pennsylvania,  Jim Zacharias of Wagner, South Dakota , and brother-in-law and sister-in-law Richard (Roberta) Strehlow of Geddes, South Dakota; also many nieces, nephews, and friends.