Sept 20 1932 - Dec 09, 2015 Kenneth Willard Wear, Sr., resident of Mobile, passed away Wednesday, December 9, 2015. He was born in Rogersville, AL and was a graduate of Lauderdale County High School. He earned a degree in Industrial Management from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1954 and a master's degree in Foods and Nutrition from Auburn University in 1960. He worked for 34 years with Morrison's Incorporated. He served as a cafeteria manager, district manager, director of staffing, training director, and retired as a human resources director. He was very active in The American Dietetic Association and The American Dietetic Association Foundation (both now known as The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics). While representing the State of Alabama in the ADA House of Delegates, he wrote the resolution that created National Nutrition Month. He was on the committee that stated that the RD should be recognized as the person knowledgeable in nutrition. Serving on the board of directors for the Foundation, he solicited money from corporations to create the National Center for Dietetics and started raising money that created an endowed scholarship that awards $35,000 annually to a dietitian to do bench research. He also endowed a personal scholarship for minorities, since males are a minority within the Academy. In 2000, The American Dietetic Association awarded him The Marjorie Hulsizer Copher Memorial Award which is the highest honor that the Association bestows to a member annually. He is preceded in death by his parents Oscar James and Auburne Wear, sisters Annie Margaret Pepper and Dorothy Sue Clark, and brother Gilbert Drayton Wear. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jackie Crawford Wear, daughters Cindy (Buddy) Baggarley of Forsyth, GA and Debbie (Tommy) Taylor of Spanish Fort, son Ken (Marcia) Wear, Jr. of Coden, and grandchildren Bo, Ford, Alycia and Mac Baggarley, Tom Taylor, and Ashley, Melissa, and Trip Wear. He attended Regency Church of Christ. Visitation will be Friday, December 11, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. followed by graveside funeral services at 11:00 a.m. at Pine Crest Cemetery. He requested that if anyone wanted to make a memorial donation that it be made payable to the Kenneth W. Wear Minority Scholarship at The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 200, Chicago, Illinois 6066-6995.
Published in the Mobile Register and Baldwin County from Dec. 10 to Dec. 11, 2015