John Herbert Mears, III, 68, died at his home on Sunday, July 9, 2017 in South Sutton, New Hampshire.


He was born on May 1, 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland the son of John Herbert, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Keeler Mears.


Education was very important to John. He attended Baltimore Friends School where he enjoyed wrestling and lacrosse. He received a BS from the University of Virginia where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall. John studied Law in England at St. John's College, Cambridge where he was an avid court tennis player and a member of the University Pitt Club. He completed his law degree at George Washington University. He went on to receive an M.A.T. in education for the University of Virginia later in his life.


John worked as a lawyer, farmer, and teacher of English, Classics, and Poetry.


John had many passions and hobbies. He had a lifelong love of the land, farming, working with his hands, and being outdoors. He also enjoyed skiing, court or "real" tennis, squash, literature, creative writing, and poetry. Throughout his life, John lived in Charlottesville, Virginia, Woodstock and Bridgewater, Vermont, Boston's Back Bay, and finally at his farm in South Sutton, New Hampshire.


John was a member of the St. Botolph Club, Longwood Cricket Club, the Boston Tennis and Racquet Club, the US Court Tennis Association, the Society of Cincinnati, and the Dilettantes Men's Club in Woodstock.


John was a dedicated study of family ancestry. He was proud of being a direct descendant of Benjamin Harrison, who signed the Declaration of Independence, William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States, Captain George Gaston Otey, who organized Otey's Battery during the Civil War, and William Claiborne, who established Maryland's first permanent settlement on Kent Island in 1631. John attributed his love of Vermont to his ancestors Aaron and Gloriana Keeler, who moved to Vermont after the Revolutionary War, and to his grandfathers who were both born in Vermont.


He is survived by his three children; Anne Claiborne Mears (New York, NY), Katharine Mears Koar (Allenhurst, NJ) and Keeler Baird Mears (London, England), a grandson Patrick William Allan Koar, three sisters; Sandra Mears Forbush (Flint Hill, VA), Nancy Claiborne Mears (Towson, MD), and Susan Mears Whiteford (Sherwood Forest, MD), his former wife Katharine "Tiny" Johnson Mears (South Woodstock, VT), and his beloved corgi, Maggie.


A memorial service is planned for 11am on Saturday, September 30th at the St. James Episcopal Church in Woodstock, Vermont.


Memorial donations may be made to the St. James Church in Woodstock, Vermont.


Arrangements are under the direction of the Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock, Vermont. An on-line guest book can be found at cabotfh.com