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Shear, Thos R III suicide News_CDT19991102p5

20240626GHLn-
Thomas Ridpath Shear III Suicide; Community Copes
Centre Daily Times
State College, Pennsylvania •
Tue, Nov 2, 1999 p5
CLIPPED BY
wetzupdoc • 26 June 2024

• Patients, friends coping with area doctor's death
By CHRIS KREWSON
Centre Daily Times
On Monday, patients and friends of the late Dr. Thomas R. Shear were receiving counseling and dealing with his death last week in Benner Township.
Shear, 55, of Patton Township, took his own life along Rock Road just after noon on Thursday, police said.
A licensed psychologist, Shear worked as an educational consultant and school psychologist for area schools and private clients. He was a staff member of the privately operated Center for Mental Health Association in State College and the Greer School in Tyrone.
At the Center for Mental Health, administrator Rosellen Frey said Shear had about 15 clients. Some of the 22 mental health professionals who practice at the Center are receiving counseling, a service Frey said would be offered to Shear's clients.
"(Shear's clients) can call here and we will do everything in our power to see they receive the care they need to deal with the situation," Frey said.
Shear was an education psychologist at the Grier School in Tyrone, where he counseled "a small percentage" of the school's 170 students in grades 7-12, according to Andrea Hollnagel, head of the school.
"The teen-age years are tricky," Hollnagel said. "Some of our students elected to visit with him on topics that affect teen-agers - things like courses, grades, parents that's what he did with us."
Shear also visited with the school's faculty once a year to talk generally about the situations the students faced, Hollnagel said.
Counseling services were available for the students he saw, she said.
Shear had been scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte. According to court documents, Shear was charged with driving under the influence after police found him slumped over the wheel of his Volkswagen on Sept. 14 in 1 the 500 block of Cricklewood Drive, near his home according to court documents.
Shear was "a great guy" to work with, said Chris King, a human resources director at the Matheny School Hospital for Cerebral Palsied Children in Peapack, N.J. Shear worked as a consulting psychologist at the hospital in the early 80s, King said.
"He was very well-liked by students and staff, as well as his peers," King said.
"He had a great sense of humor (he was) a well-respected individual."
Shear is survived by a daughter, Kathryn Marie Shear of State College; a son, Thomas Ridpath Shear IV of West Chester; a sister, Laurent D. Shear of Coudersport; a brother, William A. Shear of Farmville; and several nieces and a nephew.
Memorial services were held Sunday in Coudersport.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Thomas Shear Fund, in care of S. Paul Mazza, attorney-at-law, 1315 S. Allen St., State College, Pa. 16801. Chris Krewson can be reached at 231-4648 or chrewson@centredaily.com.

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