John W. Sears

John W. Sears
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 3rd Suffolk district
In office 1965–1968
Preceded by	Herbert B. Hollis
Succeeded by	Joseph A. Langone III
Sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts
In office 1968–1969
Preceded by	Frederick R. Sullivan
Succeeded by	Thomas Eisenstadt
Metropolitan District Commissioner
In office 1970–1975
Preceded by	Howard J. Whitmore, Jr.
Succeeded by	John Snedeker
Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party
In office 1975–1976
Preceded by	William Barnstead
Succeeded by	Gordon M. Nelson
Personal details
Born	John Winthrop Sears December 18, 1930 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	November 4, 2014 (aged 83) Boston, Massachusetts
Political party	Republican
Residence	Boston[1]
Alma mater	Harvard University Harvard Law School University of Oxford[1]
Occupation	Lawyer Stock broker[1]

John Winthrop Sears (December 18, 1930 – November 4, 2014) was an American lawyer, historian and politician.^[1] His great-great-grandfather was David Sears II. He is the grandson of seven time National tennis champion Richard Dudley Sears and the first cousin once removed of Eleonora Sears. Sears is an alumnus of St. Mark's School, Harvard College during which he spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and Harvard Law School.^[2]

He served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1965–1968, Sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts from 1968-1969. He was Metropolitan District Commissioner from 1970–1975, He was Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party from 1975-1976. He ran for municipal office and served as a Boston City Councilor from 1980-1981. He was a candidate for Mayor of Boston in 1967, Secretary of the Commonwealth in 1978. He was the Republican candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1982. Sears received one vote for the Vice Presidential nomination at the 1976 Republican National Convention.

In 2012 the longtime party activist defined himself as "an old-fashioned, center-fielding Republican."^[3] He died at his home in Boston on November 4, 2014.^[4]

References

1. Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1967-1968.
2. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=9728
3. ‘Mass. moderate’ insult has local Republicans wincing The Boston Globe 10 January 2012
4. John Winthrop Sears