Born on October 20, 1937, in Lewiston, he prepared for college at Hallowell High School and the Kents Hill School and became a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Bowdoin. Following his graduation in 1959, he did graduate work at the Institute of Paper Chemistry at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, receiving a master of science degree in 1961 and his doctor of philosophy degree in 1964, both in chemistry. After working as a senior research chemist with St. Regis Paper Company in West Nyack, NY, for two years, he joined the faculty at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, MO, as an associate professor. From 1971 to 1973 he was a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Nairobi, Kenya, and then returned to Missouri Valley College, where he became the academic dean. For five years he served as academic dean of High Point College in North Carolina and then served as dean of Central College in Pella, IA. After retiring in 1994, he remained active with the Council of Independent Colleges and the Little Traverse Conservancy in Harbor Springs, MI. He sang with the church choir at the Second Reformed Church in Pella and volunteered with the Work of Our Hands Store. Surviving are his wife, Gretchen Hildner Bearce, whom he married in 1961; a son, David Bearce of Pittsburgh, PA; a daughter, Katherine Bearce of Pella; and two granddaughters.