Gerald S. Spear, MD

Gerald (“Jerry”) S. Spear, M.D., was born on March 3, 1928, in Providence Rhode Island and passed away in Newport Beach, California on April 11, 2021.

After Jerry graduated from Harvard College in 1948, he began to pursue his study of medicine. First, he completed all medical requirements at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1952 and then move to Barnes Hospital in St Louis, Missouri, where he did an internship in internal medicine. From 1953-1956 he served as Assistant Pathologist and Assistant Resident in Pathology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Jerry was deployed to Japan in  1956 where he was the founding Chief of the Histopathology Center at the 6407^th USAF hospital at Tachikawa and remained there until 1958. Jerry then returned to Hopkins where he served as Resident  from 1958-1959. In 1959, he became an Assistant Professor and then an Associate Professor. In 1977, Jerry was named Professor of Pathology at the California College of Medicine, University of California, Irvine. After his retirement in 2003, Jerry became an Emeritus in 2005.

Jerry started his contributions to science in 1946, when he wrote a paper in the Journal of Heredity entitled “The inheritance of flexed fingers.” From 1955 till 1962, Jerry published extensively on the characterization of the Forssman antibody. His interest in renal pathology developed early in his career and in 1960, published a study about the pathology of the glomerulus in cyanotic heart disease. This interest in renal pathology continued for many years and he published extensively on this topic. As Chief of Autopsy Pathology he had the opportunity to publish several very interesting case reports.

When we view the past through a prism of the present, Jerry’s contributions to the department were immense. He was a gentleman and a responsible team member. He worked on consensus and shared openly with others regarding personal feelings, thoughts and opinions. He also believed in free speech that played a vital function in education. Throughout his tenure in the department, he was truly interested in the teaching and welfare of medical students and residents. Thus, he created a fellowship program that shared with The John’s Hopkins’ Anatomic Pathology Program for additional learning experience for our trainees. In addition, he was the director of the UCI Pathology course for the medical students.

In addition to Jerry’s devotion to pathology, he was deeply in love with music. He was a violist with impeccable knowledge of what and how he wanted to play. On one occasion, he wrote to his daughter with “great excitement” that he was to be introduced to a “new faculty of whom he’s sure he’ll become fond” and also played a string instrument. Indeed, Jerry went to take additional lessons in order to play well. Similar to his knowledge and teaching of pathology, his playing was meticulous.

His love for music extended to the community. Though Jerry played the violin, he was also a dedicated violist and played in the viola section of the UCI Symphony Orchestra. Jerry opened his residence for regular evening chamber music provided by world renowned musicians. As a child, Jerry dreamed of becoming a concert violinist. As an adult, sadly, he “was neglectful.” After his retirement in 2003, Jerry “obsessively” completed an eBook that he began sporadically as a biography at an early age. Jerry wrote that “the book will substitute as my violin legacy.” The book is the story of a cousin, Josef Hassid, a renowned violinist and child prodigy.

Jerry is now gone but he will always be remembered for his contributions as a family man, friend and as a professional.  Jerry is survived by his wife Ilene, three children and eight grandchildren.

Fritz Lin, M.D., Professor Emeritus
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Irvine

Luis M. de la Maza, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Irvine