BRIDGTON — Brian Kenneth Spear, 63, passed away on July 24 after two-and-half weeks in the intensive care unit of Central Maine Medical Center, Lewiston. The cause of death was the failure of vital organs resulting from a rampant blood infection (sepsis).

Brian was the adopted son of the late Norman Spear, a high school math teacher and restorer of classic cars, and his late wife Thelma, a social service worker and master gardener. (He was conceived, they were told, as a love child, out of the passionate union of a very young man from a prominent Portland family and an engaging young waitress.)

In any case, Norm and Thelma fell in love at-first-sight with this personable little red-head, and they doted on his every antic thereafter — setting the stage for the emergence of a totally free spirit.

Before long their imp grew into a tall, strong young hunk who led his Lake Region H.S. basketball team to a state championship. (By the way, Brian kept in touch with Coach Hughes, who still lives in Windham, right up to his [Brian’s] fatal illness.)

During his teens he was also a summer camper and lacrosse player at Moose Cove Lodge on Moose Pond.

A bit after high school, Brian joined other young friends from this area in a sow-your-wild-oats migration to the Lake Tahoe resort mecca on the California/Nevada border, where he worked as a hotel houseman, met celebrities, and enlarged his horizons.

Both before and after that adventure, Brian was pursuing his interest in, and talent for, music. He was a highly-skilled (and largely self-taught) guitarist, who played in and later led a number of regional bands, including Flow and Ethereal.

Brian himself composed much of the music, a rock/jazz fusion, and he wrote the lyrics as well. His most notable success came in Boston, where one of his groups won a highly-competitive contest at the Tam O’Shanter club, and another appeared at The Channel, which booked major acts. (After that appearance a studio owner even raised the possibility of the group opening for the hit band Bad Company.)

Lesser known was Brian’s piano mastery, a result of professional training by the virtuoso Jeffrey Furst, who had a summer camp on Long Lake.

Furst, it turned out, was not only an accomplished pianist, but a multi-business entrepreneur from a family long-established on the Boston restaurant and entertainment scene. He quickly made Brian a protégé, not only enrolling him in his urban music school, but also hiring him as a professional chauffeur in his charter company and as a general aide — so trusted that he became a courier for large amounts of cash between the various enterprises.

Brian considered Jeffrey Furst “a mentor to be studied” as he put it, and he thought the same of a man on the local scene, that being the late Curtis Gray, a colorful Viet-vet and highly successful dry-wall contractor. Together, they worked hard and played hard for a number of years — and Brian came to be known as a dry-wall expert.

A full picture of Brian’s life has to include The Women. How to put this politely? Well, Brian just loved a good roll in the hay. (Think “Tom Jones”.) And blessed with a striking appearance, he had no shortage of partners. At the same time, he was a genuine romantic, entering into several more-committed relationships. The ladies deserve mention:

Leslie Fisher (who kept a low local profile as the daughter of a famous entertainer) was probably his first real love. Leslie having a mom who was a former Playboy bunny was a bonus, of course.

Boston-based Marlene Daly, a successful musician in her own right, was a bit older and deepened his insight.

Monica Ziegler of Bridgton, the only woman he actually married, gave constant support to his own music and kept him grounded. They lived for a time in Florida.

Stacy Foy, whom he met during a summer-long band retreat in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and then brought back to Bridgton, blessed him with their daughter.

Elana Jordan (with whom he stayed until her passing) and Carrie Macdonald, both locally based, were the deeply important relationships of his later years.

One more thing, which some might call the elephant in the room. Brian had bi-polar disorder, which (typically) only became apparent in adulthood — very apparent when he marched from Bridgton to Naples to “save the world”, as he later explained, shedding clothing along the way, and arriving on the Naples Causeway buck-naked.

The condition was subsequently controlled with low levels of medication, and yet it was undoubtedly always a factor in his personality: the drive, the spontaneity, the flamboyance, the (sometimes imprudent) generosity.

Brian was able to live in the moment and to frequently proclaim, “This has been one of the best days of my life!

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— CDS

Brian is survived by his daughter Chantel Spear of Michigan — and a granddaughter now as well; his sister and brother-in-law Norma and Christof Rugg and family of Bridgton; numerous cousins including his special angel Elaine Franti of Michigan; his recent housemates Charlie Simpson and Gorden Buchanan; plus a legion of bandmates and friends.

A Celebration of Life Friday, Aug. 19., 5 to 8 p.m. Stella’s on the Square (North High Street near the Civil War monument.