Personal Life
Lear had a total of seven children, born from 1925 to 1954. With his first wife, Ethel Peterson Lear, Mary Louise was born January 1925. He married his second wife Madeline Murphy in October 1926. Their son, Bill Lear, Jr., was born on May 24, 1928. William Lear, Jr. died December 14, 2009, age 81, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Lear's third marriage to Margret Radell was childless. In 1941, Lear married his fourth wife Moya Marie Olsen, daughter of Vaudeville comedian John "Ole" Olsen. Bill and Moya Lear would have four children together: John Olsen Lear was born in 1942, Shanda in 1944, David in 1948 and Tina in 1954. Lear's son John is an accomplished pilot and ufologist, noted in the latter field for promoting a variety of conspiracy theories which were based, he claimed, on information obtained from military contacts.
Although Lear had a reputation of being difficult, he reportedly had a notable sense of humor, as evidenced by naming his second daughter Shanda (~"chandelier").
The 75-year-old Lear died of leukemia in Reno, Nevada on May 14, 1978. His remains were cremated and scattered at sea.
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