Hayward Spears

Hayward Spears Sr. (February 27, 1934 – October 2, 2022) was the founder of Hayward’s Pit Bar-B-Que in Overland Park, Kansas — one of the Kansas City metro’s most decorated barbecue restaurants and the foundation of a notable Black-owned business and civic career on the Kansas side.

Biography

Born in Hope, Arkansas on February 27, 1934, Spears brought his family’s Arkansas barbecue tradition to the Kansas City area.¹ In 1972 he founded Hayward’s Pit Bar-B-Que in Overland Park, which he ran for 42 years and grew into one of the metro’s most acclaimed barbecue spots, earning top-barbecue honors in 1985 and 1990.²

Spears was also a prominent minority entrepreneur and civic figure: he was named Ernst & Young / Merrill Lynch Minority Entrepreneur of the Year in 1992 and served on the boards of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, the Johnson County Community College Foundation, and the Overland Park Convention and Visitors Bureau.³ He died on October 2, 2022, at age 88.¹

Legacy

Hayward Spears demonstrated that a family barbecue tradition could become both a celebrated restaurant and a platform for civic leadership in suburban Johnson County, where he was a rare and visible Black business pioneer.

See also

• haywards-pit-bar-b-que

Sources

Footnotes

1. Hayward Spears Sr. obituary, Thatcher Funeral Home (2022) — born February 27, 1934 in Hope, Arkansas; died October 2, 2022, age 88, in Leawood, Kansas. ↩ ↩²

2. “Hayward’s Pit BBQ founder Hayward Spears Sr. dies at 88,” FOX4 KC (2022) — founded Hayward’s in 1972; 42 years; top-barbecue honors 1985 and 1990. ↩

3. “Hayward Spears, Overland Park barbecue pioneer, dies,” Johnson County Post (2022-10-13) — 1992 Minority Entrepreneur of the Year; Overland Park Chamber, JCCC Foundation, OP Convention & Visitors Bureau boards. ↩