John Searing is a Rotarian in the water, on the run and atop the bike and it was a pleasure to interview him sitting rather than striding as we broke bread at 219 Restaurant last fall. John had just completed the Florida Ironman held in November in Panama City – a grueling 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run.

In fact, a fellow runner approached our table and declared John’s effort as “inspirational.”

Whether inspiring clients in his role as Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch or coaching the St. Patrick School cross country team, John is an inspiration on and off the field.

Born and raised in Baltimore, John received his accounting degree from James Madison University, where he met his wife Sheri Davis Searing (daughter of fellow Rotarian Bill Davis) and was a place kicker on the football team.

Following graduation, he returned to Baltimore and began his career with a boutique wealth management firm as CPA and financial planner. In 2005, John moved to Norfolk and joined UBS Financial Services. In 2009 John moved to Merrill Lynch. He is a Certified Financial Planner and specialties include planning for retirement, estate issues, college costs, and charitable aspirations.

John received a Volunteer Achievement Award from Volunteer Hampton Roads and was named an Inside Business Top Forty Under Forty. He serves on the board of Lee’s Friends. John joined our Club in 2005 and is a past board member.

Out of the office John and Sheri run hard to keep up with their three daughters, Emma 13, Noelle, 11 and Katie, 9 all students at St. Patrick School and like Dad very involved in athletics. Whenever possible they escape to the Outer Banks, where John has built an active client base.

Of all his community activities John is most proud of being the co-founder and co-chairperson of the Barnett-Searing National Cancer Foundation. In the early 2000s John’s friend, Kevin Barnett, lost his mother to uterine cancer and John lost his sister, Jenny, to ovarian cancer. Through their mother and sister’s valiant efforts to survive, John and Kevin resolved to make a difference in the lives of those facing similar battles.

The Foundation provides funding to improve the comfort and quality of life for cancer patients and their families. Donations are made for technology, equipment, staff additions, renovations/furniture for and transportation to treatment centers. Recipients are carefully selected and include Johns Hopkins, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Sinai Hospital, Lee’s Friends, Helping People with Cancer Stella Maris Hospice Care, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

How inspiring!