NORFOLK, Va. — The community will come together to say goodbye to a longtime band director of Norfolk State University's "Spartan Legion".
NSU Athletics Foundation Hall of Fame member Emery Fears died on January 12. He was 97 years old.
Fears, affectionately known as "Chief," was NSU's Director of Bands from 1974 until his retirement in 1991, and was the first to coin the term "Spartan Legion".
Before NSU, Fears served as band director at I.C. Norcom High School from 1952-1972 and band director at Manor High School from 1972-1974.
A Celebration of Life will be held for Fears on Friday, January 20, at 11 a.m. It's at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Portsmouth.