Charles William Lear

Friday, Jul. 01, 2022

Charles William Lear

April 8, 1935 ~ May 31, 2022

Charles William Lear passed away May 31, 2022, in South Ogden of natural causes, surrounded by family at home, on his own terms, according to his own wishes.

He was born on April 8, 1935, to William and Helen Shaver Lear in Tuscola, Illinois. At the age of 4 he moved with his parents to Corona, California, where he attended Corona schools and graduated high school with honors. While in high school he played basketball and football and served as yearbook editor. He attended the University of California in Berkeley and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1957. He later earned master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and physics from the University of California. In 1959, he married Beverly Hastings, a native of Corona whom he had known since kindergarten.  They were the parents of two children, a daughter Lisa and a son Tom.

In 1961, Chuck accepted an employment offer from TRW Systems (now Northrop Grumman) in Redondo Beach, California. He stayed with TRW for almost 39 years, transferring from southern California to Hill Air Force Base in 1979. 

After retiring from TRW, Chuck embarked upon a second career as an educator. He taught STEM subjects at St. Joseph High School in Ogden for three years and then served as an instructor of undergraduate physics at Weber State University until 2016.   He also tutored groups of students in algebra and pre-calculus.

In addition to his love of science, Chuck was a deeply spiritual man. Baptized Methodist, upon moving to Ogden he and Beverly were active members of both Holy Family and St. James the Just Catholic parishes. He was confirmed a Catholic in 2019.

Chuck combined his faith with his God-given intelligence to pursue studies in psychophysics, quantum field theory, mathematical physics, panpsychism and human consciousness. A series of scientific papers on these topics led to the publication of his book, The Physics of Consciousness: A Hypothesis, in 2018. He was a member of the Society for Scientific Exploration.

He is survived by his wife Beverly, children Lisa (Kinison) and Tom Lear, son-in-law Paul Kinison, three grandsons, seven great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. 

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Fund.

A funeral Mass was celebrated June 13, 2022, at St. James the Just Catholic Church, Ogden. Inurnment June 14, 2022 in the Myers Evergreen Memorial Park.