John Keith Teare

John Teare, age 92 of Myrtle Beach, SC passed away on Wednesday, May 31. John was a former resident of both Goodrich and Ortonville. John was born on a farm on Henderson Rd, in Atlas Township in Goodrich, just north of Kipp Road, in between the two ninety degree curves, on January 2, 1931. His parents were Vern and Vera Teare. He was the youngest of six children that included four brothers, Robert, Phillip. Arthur (Bud) and Thomas and one sister, Beverly. All preceded John in death.

John was a 1949 graduate of Goodrich High School. He married Elaine Dawley of Ortonville on January 27, 1951. They built a house on Ball Street in Ortonville in 1954, next to the village Little League Baseball Fields on property that they purchased from Elaine’s parents, Orla and Clara Dawley. They lived there until they retired to Myrtle Beach, SC in 1992. After 63 years of marriage, Elaine passed away in 2015.

John and Elaine had three children, Steve (Wendy) Teare of Myrtle Beach SC, Jan (Bernard) Hedeline of San Diego, CA and Dave (Charlene) Teare of Alameda, CA. They had five grand-children, Stephanie (Chris) Berry of Folsom, CA, Steven (Angela Fleury) Teare of Philadelphia, PA, Shannon (Joe) Mauro of Bethesda, MD and Ellie and Cooper Teare of Alameda, CA. They also had five great-grand daughters, Charlotte and Phoebe Berry of Folsom, CA, Clara and Leah Mauro of Bethesda, MD and Margaret Teare of Philadelphia, PA.

John and Elaine loved to travel and visited all 50 states and several countries. They also loved to play golf, each having recorded holes in one over the years, Elaine with 3 and John 2. John was one of the original board members of Goodrich Country Club when a group of local residents bought the club over 50 years ago. They were the greatest family supporters ever and never, ever missed any of their kids sporting activities no matter how far they had to travel to attend.

John was a district manager at Waddell and Reed Investments in the Flint area from 1962 until 1992. He also started Teare Business and Tax Service in the early 60’s which was eventually taken over by Elaine, where she prepared tax returns for hundreds of local residents for more than 30 years. Nearly every year as soon as tax season ended in April, they packed up the car and headed for well-deserved vacation time in the warmer climates of Florida or the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.

John played football and ran track in high school and was the very first school record holder in the mile run at Goodrich, winning the regional and finishing 4th in the Class “D” state meet in 1949. If at all possible, John never missed watching or listening to his beloved Detroit Tigers as well as all sports teams from the state of Michigan. Whether on the golf course, out for his daily walk or just moving about town, John almost always could be spotted wearing a Detroit Tiger hat.

No service is planned at this time. A celebration of life gathering will occur sometime in the near future. In lieu of flowers, contributions in honor of John can be made to his favorite charity: David’s Faith & Hope for Life Foundation: online at https://faithhopelife.com or David’s Faith & Hope for Life Foundation, PO Box 14, Goodrich, MI. 48438

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