Richard Dudley Sears III died in Aiken, South Carolina, on Sunday November 18th in his 86th year. He was the son of Richard D. and Frederica Leser Sears of Boston, and grandson of the same-named Richard D. Sears, first American National Tennis Champion. He survived his much-loved wife, Mary "Polly" Page Sears, and leaves her three dedicated children, Elizabeth Page Carey and Francis J. Carey III, and Page Eyre Kelleher, and four step-grandchildren; Laura and William Carey and Rodney and Elizabeth Boden. He also leaves in Boston a brother, local Boston political figure John W. Sears, a sister, Mrs. Anne Sears Wilson, and her children, nephew John Wilson, niece Erica Mandau and her husband Gary, and three devoted nephews, sons of a departed brother Fulton; Fred, Dan and his wife Robin, Stephen and wife Starr. He also leaves six great-nieces and great-nephews, including: Dorothy Mandau, Marguerite "Daisy" Sears, George Sears, William Sears, Addison Sears and Philip Sears. Richard Sears grew up in Boston and attended Dexter and St. Mark's Schools. He graduated from Harvard and the University of Virginia Law School after service in the Navy, in the Second World War, ending as an Ensign. He began a legal career in the Boston firms of Putnam, Bell, Santry and Ray, and later Bingham, Dana and Gould, finishing as one of the early members of Burns and Levinson, his specialty was Admiralty Law. He was an avid and very fine golfer and officiated in Massachusetts and U.S. Junior Golf. He won numerous championships at several clubs, and was a contestant in State Amateur Championships in Massachusetts, Virginia, and South Carolina. He competed successfully at The Myopia Hunt Club near Boston and The Palmetto Club in Aiken. A six-decade member of The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, he competed for over 40 years in their rivalry with the Royal Montreal Golf Club, believed to be the oldest international competition. He was also a dedicated player, and a club champion, in the ancient game of court tennis - of which his grandfather had also been the first American champion. He served as President of The Tennis and Racquet Club in Boston, and as a Vice-President of the U.S. National Court Tennis Association. Richard was a generous benefactor to The Dexter School and to St. Mark's, and later to the Aiken Preparatory School. He served as an officer of the Palmetto Golf Club and as a planning official in Aiken. Richard cared deeply about animals and conservation. He and Polly hosted many memorable Aiken SPCA fund-raisers. He also helped his wife in her popular Aiken restaurant, "Polly's Place". They entertained their many friends with grace and charm. In a long and courageous battle with cancer, he was lovingly assisted and cared for by his step-daughter Elizabeth "Biz" Carey and by his faithful friends Mildred Lawrence and Wendy Dietzel. Many loyal friends, through their thoughtfulness, brightened his last months. It was his expressed desire not to have a memorial service. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Aiken SPCA. His family and many friends in Boston and Aiken will miss him greatly. Expressions of sympathy for the Sears family may be left at www.georgefuneralhomes.com