Obituary of Richard Thayer Spear III

Richard Thayer Spear III, known to all as Puck, passed away on March 2nd, 2024. Puck was born in Rockland, MA, on January 13th, 1979. He was the beloved husband of Laura Spear (Druck), son-in-law of Kathy Druck, brother-in-law of Sharon Gerber (Druck) and James Gerber, uncle to Morgan and Johnathan Tang, and nephew of Dana Spear.

Puck was a generous soul and a bon vivant. An accomplished cook, he was excited to feed everyone he met. There was never a Thanksgiving or Christmas orphan in his world– you were always welcome at his table. He was at his happiest making sure people felt included and were having a good time. 

Taking naturally to computers from age 5, Puck worked in IT his whole career, from a small health information network, to maintaining the network of NYU’s Department of Economics, to the small social network group that became part of RadioOne, a place he was very happy to call his professional home for over 16 years,  Kingdom of Loathing was another beloved early internet community for him, introducing him to dear friends all over the world.

His community engagement reached offline as well, starting as close as his own backyard. He loved hosting parties, and was known for telling his neighbors to consider the smoke of his fire pit (where he cooked everything from whole lambs to enormous pots of his famous chili) an “open invitation”.  He was also a former Grand Knight of his local chapter of the Knights of Columbus;  and was an enthusiastic, friendly presence at Global Strongman Gym. 

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, March 30th between 2:00-5:00pm, and between 7:00-9:00pm at Marine Park Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Puck’s name to Food Bank NY, the Trevor Project, or Brooklyn Cat Cafe.