Spear was born in New York and attended Cornell University (B.A. 1946) and George Washington University (M.A. 1952). He was a veteran, served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war, in 1946, Spear joined the United States Foreign Service.Bahamas 2011 Country Readers He had assignments in Germany, the Philippines, Yugoslavia, Thailand and Vietnam. He was the United States Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in the Bahamas at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in 1973. He married Lois Stamey and had three children.
