Billy Speary passed away on October 24th,
1967 at the age of 49. His death was directly related to the
illness that had followed him since childhood. While working on
this web site, I found no less than 20 different obituaries and several
newspaper articles regarding his death.
Pretty amazing considering he had been retired from boxing for nearly 25
years.The following are but a few of the newspaper
articles written at the time of his passing.
The
Great Old Days
Days of gore and glory, such as will never again be seen in this old town, were brought to mind yesterday with the news that Billy Speary died in Bethlehem Tuesday night at the age of 49.
Boxer Billy Speary Counted out at 49
Fistic will o'whisp Billy Speary, busiest and best amateur produced in Luzerne County with an estimated career of 350 bouts,
has been counted out by the Great Referee at the age of 49.
We are among the many mourning the death within the past week of one of the nice guys of the sports fraternity. Last Tuesday one of the greatest amateur fighters ever to come out of Pennsylvania -- Billy Speary -- died at the too early age of 49 of a heart attack.
HATCHIN' 'EM OUT
Heavy Hand Rests on Finest Sportfolk by Chic Feldman
The Heavy Hand has again touched those we revere in Sportland to bring glowing memories to offset the dark sorrow. In the case of Billy Speary the flash backs are precious.
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