Published: Dec. 20, 2007

1921 - 2007 University of Colorado Professor Emeritus Don Walter Sears died on November 21, 2007. He was dean of the Colorado Law School from 1968 to 1973. In 1943, during the last semester of his senior year at Ohio State, he left college to enlist in the Army. He served with distinction and honor, earning a Purple Heart with Oak-Leaf Cluster and a Bronze Star with Oak-Leaf Cluster. Don married Eve Kathryn Willey on in 1946. He received his undergraduate degree and enrolled in Ohio State University Law School. He worked in private practice for two years and was re-commissioned in the US Air Force with the rank of Captain under the Judge Advocate Corps. In 1950, Don joined the University of Colorado Law School faculty. For the next 50 years, Don was as an educator, writer, arbitrator, and administrator. He chaired almost every Law School committee, many at CU, and in state and federal government. While Dean, he was instrumental in securing funds from the legislature to complete renovation and new construction on the Fleming Law building, and received the CU Recognition Medal from the Regents in 1975. He also received the Associated Alumni Robert L. Stearns Award in 1967. He served as a member of the Colorado Bar Ethics Committee for 40 years, Colorado Supreme Court Grievance Committee, Boulder County Bar Association, National Academy of Arbitrators, and a Major League Baseball arbitrator. He co-authored and edited labor law books, and authored numerous publications and speeches on Labor law, Arbitration and Professional Responsibility, Security Law and the Uniform Commercial Code. Three major awards established in his name include Colorado Law School’s Don W. Sears Award and Don Sears Diversity Scholarship, and Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee’s Don W. Sears Award for Ethical Enhancement of the Legal Profession in Colorado. Eve K. Sears, his wife of 60 years, preceded him in death on October 2005. He is survived by his children – Stephanie Volkman, Lance Sears (‘75), Don C. Sears, Shannon Chinatti, and Kathleen Sears – 9 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Professor Bill Pizzi wrote the following about Dean Sears, “Don was a major influence on me almost from the time I arrived at CU in 1975. He was a great raconteur and I enjoyed hearing all about his early years in Ohio, his meeting Eve, and his military service. We talked about the law school, teaching, early years in practice, the “fun” of deaning, Ohio State, running, and lots of other topics. I will always be deeply grateful for his friendship, for all he did for me, and for all that he taught me by the way he lived his life.” A wake and memorial service was held for Don and Eve Sears on December 16, 2007, at the Folsom Stadium Club Suites on the CU-Boulder campus. His family requests that contributions in memory of Don Sears be made to:Don W. Sears Scholarship Fundc/o University of Colorado Foundation4740 Walnut StreetBoulder, CO 80301 Make checks payable to: University of Colorado Foundation and notate Fund number 0154327.To read an account of his life, visit the Daily Camera article and Denver Post article.