Valerie Spears

My sister, Valerie Ann Spears, age 73, departed this world on November 12, 2024. Her parents, Robert Abraham Spears and Anna Dorothy (Elko) Spears welcomed their first child on May 26,1951. The family resided on Box Street in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Her favorite playmate as a child was her grandfather Mickie. They would spend hours playing Cowboys and Indians and crabbing in the mud flats of City Island or Sheepshead Bay. Mickie also instilled in Valerie a life-long love of music.

Her education began at the local parochial school in Greenpoint. Weekends were spent with the extended family driving out to Aughrim Manor, the summer home our parents purchased on the North Shore of Long Island. The family fell in love with their new home and the village of Rocky Point, so our parents decided to relocate to "the country" and leave "city" life. Valerie claimed the third floor as her own and hosted school parties in the garage. The exchange among the Macbeth witches, re-enacted during a Halloween party, is still enshrined on the garage doors. Valerie was a student at Port Jefferson High School when she learned she would soon have a younger sibling. She rejected all of the names our parents were considering for their second child (if it was a girl) and suggested using our mother's middle name, "Dorothy." And thus, began our bond...

After graduating from high school, my sister attended the Sorbonne. As a single woman in the early 1970s, she moved back to the "City" to live in our grandmother's apartment and attend New York University. On trips "out east," she taught her baby sister French, a love of dress up and how to make high heels "work for you." The best birthday present she ever gave me was a 20-foot red feather boa. Spending time with my big sister at her apartment was always an adventure. I learned just how fast I could run in heels from Broadway to Penn Station to catch the last train back to Port Jefferson, which our father greeted at 3 am.

Valerie's mantra was "it's time to move on," which she did, traveling all over the country with her fur babies. At my wedding, Aunt Millie asked Valerie when she would be moving back to Hopewell? Valerie, who was living in Prescott, Arizona at the time, thought this was a strange thing to say. Perhaps Millie was clairvoyant; but Valerie moved to Hopewell about 20 years later. She will also be buried next to Millie in the family plot at "Begonia" cemetery.

Since "returning" to Hopewell, my sister and I have traveled far and wide attending theatrical and musical events. I will miss our Friday night dinners and drinks at "the Club." Most of all I will miss my big sister, who could always keep a secret and had my back. I take solace in knowing that I held her hand when she took her last breath as our mother and grandmother welcomed her home.

Valerie is survived by me, her loving sister, Dorothyann Spears-Dean, my husband, Randy L. Dean, and numerous close friends. Our family is being served by the Hopewell Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home, and we will celebrate Valerie's "Big Adventure" (aka Life) on Friday, November 22, 2024. Valerie was always up for a party, so the festivities will begin at 10am with a visitation, followed by a service in the on-site Chapel at 11 am. Interment will be private. Should you choose to celebrate Valerie's life, we ask that you donate to the animal-focused charity of your choice.