Revers Shears

Funeral services for Revers Shears, 82, Lawrence will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence. Burial will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence. The family will greet friends from 10:00 a.m. until service time on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at the mortuary.

Revers was born February 24, 1943, in Hollandale, Mississippi, the son of Kelly and Minnie (Wallace) Shears. He was the baby of 17 siblings (9 boys and 8 girls). He was a sharecropper in Mississippi until he moved to Kansas in 1968. He worked for the City of Lawrence in the sanitation department and retired in 1990.

Revers loved nothing more than fishin’ and spendin’ time with family, especially gathered around the grill at a good family BBQ. He had a taste for the classics: pig ears, pig feet, catfish, greens, and a scoop of walnut ice cream alongside his much-loved homemade pound cake. He was a devoted Chiefs fan that also enjoyed trips to the casino to “win a few pots”, then windin’ down with some good’ol blues music playin’ low. And if you heard a booming “Good Evening!”, you knew Revers had entered the room. His legendary cussin’ will live on in family stories, but Lord knows, beneath that voice of thunder was a man full of love who meant well.

He married Johnnie B. Ramsey on June 6, 1977. She preceded him in death on March 2, 2016. Others that preceded him in death include his father Kelly Shears and mother Minnie (Wallace) Shears; siblings Walter Shears, Carrie Shears, Nancy Shears, Bailey Shears, Mamie Shears, Percy Shears, Hattie Shears, Willie Shears, Katie Shears, Minnie Shears, Aford Shears, Daisy Shears, Doris Shears, Jessie Shears, Henry Shears, and Kelly Shears.

Survivors include his children, Marilyn Hunter, Marvin and Kim Hunter, Melvin and Teronda Hunter; grandchildren Melanie Bolden, Marco Hunter, Michael Bolden Jr., Telisha and Donald Carroll, Deshon and Alex Lewis, Michael and Ashley Queen, Daydrian Brown, Luana Hatcher, and Abigail Meadows; a host of great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces and nephews.

He went to be with the Lord on Sunday, December 28, 2025, at his home.