UIndy catcher's mom never missed a game. She died on bye week: 'It's almost like she knew'

INDIANAPOLIS – Will Spear's mom was always there, somewhere in the stands or sitting in a lawn chair, watching the catcher behind the plate. It's hard to believe now that she isn't here. That Barbara Spear isn't pulling up to the baseball field in her Dodge Challenger bedazzled with those neon green decals she adored.

It's hard to fathom that she isn't here watching Will's every move as a junior starting catcher for the University of Indianapolis. That she isn't cheering him on after a win. That she isn't pumping him up after a loss.

"She always tried to keep my spirits high," said Will. "If I did make a mistake, she'd always say, 'It's OK.'"

Will doesn't remember a game that his mother wasn't there to be his rock. Barbara made it her mission, even after long days working as a logistics manager at Corsi Custom Cabinetry in Indianapolis. Even as she went through chemotherapy for late stages of cancer.

But on March 1, the Wednesday before UIndy's only bye weekend of the season, six days before Will would have to play a baseball game again, Barbara died at the age of 51.

"It's almost like she knew," said Will. "And she was like, 'I'm going to give you time to think about this and time to heal so you can go back out and play.'"

When Barbara was diagnosed in September, the adrenal cancer had already spread to her liver and lungs. It ravaged her body quickly. As she went through chemotherapy, Barbara still went to Will's fall baseball games, tired, but fighting.

"She was always that person I could count on to be there every game," said Will. And the person he knew would want him to get right back out on the field and play.

Will missed baseball practice after his mom died. But he didn't miss a game. He played March 7 in a doubleheader, UIndy taking on Purdue Northwest at home. UIndy won 7-5 and 6-1, bringing their record to 8-0.

As he played, Will knew somewhere his mom was cheering. And she was so proud that he played on.

"It was comforting for me going back out there and doing what I love," Will said. "And knowing I was kind of at peace with my mom passing. It was really good to see her be able to let go."

'Even now, it doesn't seem real'

Barbara didn't have any symptoms, not until five months before she died, the day she got her diagnosis. Barbara woke up at her Lawrence home Sept. 28 and coughed up a little bit of blood, said her daughter Kami Spear. "She had a weird pain, too."

"I think something's wrong," Barbara told her husband, Brian, of 27 years. The two went to the emergency room and found out there was something terribly wrong. Barbara's cancer that started in her adrenal glands had already spread to her lungs and liver.

Kami was at work when her mom got the diagnosis. Will was at school. Their dad had to tell them the worst news they had ever heard. Kami and Will rushed to the hospital.

"Even now, it doesn't seem real," said Kami, a photographer, who worked with her mom at Corsi.

Barbara's cancer was, literally, a one in a million diagnosis; one to two people in a million are diagnosed with adrenal cancer each year. And in Barbara's case, it was incurable.

"We hoped we could treat it and manage it for a while," said Kami, fighting tears. "She was probably the greatest mom I could have ever asked for. She was my best friend."

Barbara tried the chemotherapy the doctors recommended, but the cancer continued to grow.

And she continued to live life, being a wonderful cook, making her famous chocolate éclair cake, even though Barbara was allergic to chocolate. She made it because she loved to make her family happy, Kami said.

And she loved to make people laugh. Barbara was funny. You never knew what was coming out of her mouth.

"She would always give it to you straight," said Will. "She was always that person you wanted to be around."

More than 2,000 people have viewed his mother's online obituary, said Will. "That was pretty amazing. It shows all the lives that she touched."

Including his baseball team. At Barbara's viewing, the entire UIndy team showed up, every player, every coach and every athletic trainer. Not one person on the team missed.

"That was a really cool experience," Will said, "to have them all there supporting me and honoring my mom."

One of those teammates at Barbara's viewing supporting Will was fellow UIndy catcher Brian Keeney. He had to be there for Will. Keeney's mom is fighting cancer, too.

'If anyone knows what you are going through, it's me'

Will lives in the same apartment building as Keeney, a junior UIndy catcher and outfielder. When Keeney told the team about his mom's ovarian cancer diagnosis, Will reached out to him.

"If anyone knows what you are going through right now, it's me," Will told him. "You can come up and talk to me about it any time."

Keeney is private about his mom's cancer. He declined an interview with IndyStar through Jacob Walton, the baseball team's sports information graduate assistant.

But Keeney is leaning on his teammates. And they have rallied around him.

When UIndy pitcher E.J. White learned that Keeney's mom was battling cancer, just as Will's mom was; he wanted to do something.

"I thought it would be really cool if we got together as a team and rallied," White said. "It's more than just a team, it's more than a brotherhood, it's like a family."

White worked with his teammates and UIndy athletics and organized a Kick Out Cancer day to raise awareness. There were shirts with the names "Spear" and "Keeney." There were wrist bands and banners. UIndy athletic teams, not just the baseball team, bought shirts to show their support.

"Sports is something that is really, really special," White said. "College baseball is our life. It is our life right now so being there for one another is really important."

The color of adrenal cancer is green, "which kind of actually makes sense," said Will. His mom loved the green accents on that Dodge Challenger that took her to so many of his baseball games.

When Will plays, he wears a green mudstone bracelet. On the back of his catcher's gear, he has pinned a green ribbon and a teal ribbon, the color of ovarian cancer, which Keeney's mom is fighting.

And Will plays on behind the plate with the wonderful memories of a mom who never missed a game. Until she left him on bye week.

"She knew what she was doing," Will said. "She was giving me time so I could get back on the field."

And play for her.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mom of UIndy catcher dies of adrenal cancer on bye week: 'She knew'