By Lori A. Carter
Press-Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif., Nov. 27, 2009
John Shearer, a Petaluma physician for more than 40 years and outspoken advocate for health care, died Nov. 18 only a few weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was 77.
Services are pending.
Shearer began his career making house calls to patients, providing obstetric care and delivering hundreds of babies to Petaluma mothers.
Over the past two decades, he became concerned with the number of residents who were either denied medical coverage or couldn’t afford it, said his wife of 32 years, Donna Brasset Shearer of Petaluma.
“He actually had been working on health care reform for almost 20 years,” she said. “He was really a pioneer. Before and after he retired, he never stopped working for health care reform. He was always speaking at conferences and working on panels.
“In his practice, he knew many people who couldn’t afford health care and he saw them suffer. He saw quite a few tragedies because of people’s lack of coverage. It became personal for him.”
Shearer retired earlier than he could have after becoming disillusioned by the insurance industry’s control over medical care, she said.
Shearer was born in Kokomo, Ind., and later moved to Detroit with his family, where he met his first wife, Mary Diedrich, in 1955. Shearer earned his medical degree in family practice in 1962 from Wayne State University, where he graduated among the top in his class in medical school.
Two years later, he moved to Petaluma and joined the El Rose Medical Group with three other physicians. He served as president of the medical staffs of Hillcrest Hospital in 1974 and at Petaluma Valley Hospital in 1986-87. He was the chair of the Ethics Committee at Petaluma Valley for several years until 2005.
He served on a variety of local health care boards, including the California Physician’s Alliance, a chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, an organization that advocates for a single-payer, national health insurance.
He also worked locally for children’s health care. He helped create the Children’s Healthcare Access Coalition, which led to a program that provides health insurance for every child in Sonoma County.
He also volunteered his medical services at the Jewish Community Free Clinic in Rohnert Park, serving as its medical director for two years.
“Beyond being thoroughly kind and warm-hearted, he was also the least judgmental, least critical person I’ve ever known,” his wife said. “My life with him was a song.”
As the cancer worsened, Shearer became philosophical about the end of life.
“He said he was the luckiest person, he was surrounded by people he loved and who loved him,” she said. “He had a sense of accomplishment about his life. He was happy that he did it the way he wanted to.”
As recently as a month ago, he was walking 18 to 20 miles a week, she said. He died in the hospital, surrounded by his wife and family.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Annette Moussa of Petaluma; son David Shearer of Gig Harbor, Wash.; sisters Marianna Shearer of Woodland and Linda Rook of Arizona; and three grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family prefers written reminiscences that can be sent to dosdocs2@hotmail.com or a donation to California Physicians Alliance, 2344 Sixth St., Berkeley, CA, 94710.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091127/ARTICLES/911279933?Title=Dr-John-Shearer
