Margaret D. Shearer, 94, of Crawfordsville, died at her home at Bickford Cottage in
Crawfordsville.
Mrs. Shearer was an artist whose work is well-known in Montgomery County. She studied oil
painting with Fritz Schlemmer at his studio in Crawfordsville; with Harold MacDonald of
Wabash College; with Philip Best at the Lafayette Art Center; with Bill Ashby the Indianapolis
Art League and at Monhegan Island in Maine; at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis;
L'Académie de la Grande Chaumiére in Paris, France; and at the Samuel Fleisher School of Fine
Arts in Philadelphia, PA. She exhibited for many years at the Hoosier Salon. Her artwork is
held in many private collections in Montgomery County and elsewhere.
She served as President of the Crawfordsville Art League; was a member of The Athenian; was
active in Girl Scouts as a scout leader; was a member of the Wabash Avenue Presbyterian
Church; and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Crawfordsville Rotary Club. In 2004, she
was the honorary artist of the Crawfordsville Art League's Downtown Exhibit. An exhibit at the
Old Jail Museum in 2007 featured a retrospective of her work from private collections in
Montgomery County and honored her life and work.
Mrs. Shearer was born June 11, 1917, in Chicago, IL, to Lloyd H. and Bess Benson Davis. She
was a 1935 graduate of Crawfordsville High School and a 1939 graduate of MacMurray College
in Jacksonville, IL. She married Warren Wright Shearer on June 8, 1940, in Crawfordsville. He
died on December 5, 1989.
Survivors include daughters, Judith (Fred) Corbin and Susan Rickett of Crawfordsville, son
Robert of Zhongshan, China, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. She was
preceded in death by a son, Peter and by her brother, Robert Davis.

Friends may call from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Friday at the Hunt & Sons Funeral Home. A private family
burial service will be held at Oak Hill Cemetery North with Dr. John C. Van Nuys officiating.
Memorials may be made to Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society, PO Box 662,
Crawfordsville, IN, 47933 or the Art League of Montgomery County, PO Box 2, Crawfordsville,
IN, 47933.