Saying farewell to a cherished colleague

Brett Spearing was my right-hand man at work and jumped in to save me professionally on countless occasions with an ever-present smile on his face and a seemingly endless reserve of patience. If you knew Brett, you knew he never said no. Anything was fixable and doable.

He armed himself with that spirit in the face of his chronic lymphocytic leukemia diagnosis. He passed away on Jan. 14. He was 46.

Although the collective Ragan Communications family carries a heavy heart, it also beats with immense gratitude for having known and worked alongside him. Our office will close Thursday, Jan. 19, in memoriam.

Many readers may not recognize his name. But what you should know, dear readers, is that without him, you wouldn’t be reading this article, getting our daily headlines or visiting our websites. Without him, our online presence wouldn’t exist.

As our CEO Mark Ragan said:

Brett worked for Ragan for more than two decades and was one of the most beloved employees in the 50-year history of the company. He was also one of the most effective.

Brett ushered our company into the digital age. Without his steady leadership, and without his talent for matching Ragan’s services to the right technology, the company could never have survived.