THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996 TAG: 9610260623
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: 52 lines
Dr. Jester Leroy Pierce, 84, of 906 Runnymede Road, died Thursday, October 24, 1996.
Dr. Pierce was the son of the late Ralph Fred Pierce and Sarah Jester Pierce of High Point, N.C. He graduated from High Point College with a bachelor of arts degree and later attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his master's degree in Education in 1940 and his doctorate in Education in 1954. He served as a teacher, coach and principal in the public schools of North Carolina for 10 years and was professor of Health and Physical Education at Elon College from 1942 to 1953. He then came to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction as a consultant in health and physical education. In 1959, Dr. Pierce was appointed director of the Division of School Planning of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and held this position until he retired in 1976.
He served on the board of directors of the Council of Educational Facilities Planners, International ;National Association of State Directors of Facility Planning, president, 1965; Inter-State School Building Service, president, 1958; and Division of Superintendents, NCAE.
He was active in community affairs as a member of several organizations and served on the board of directors of the Wake County Volunteer Service Center, the Golden K. Kiwanis Club, Glenwood Community Task Force and the N.C. Retired Government Employees Association. A lifelong member of the Democratic Party, he was active in the affairs of Precinct 29. He also served as member and chairman of the Wake County Board of Adjustment from 1980 to 1987.
He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II in the South Pacific as commanding officer of the USS LCI 809 and received commendation for the Okinawa campaign.
Dr. Pierce was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd of Raleigh, where he served as Sunday school teacher, officer and teacher of the Battle Bible Class, and served several terms as vestry member and senior warden.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, the former Alice Parrish Oldfield of Norfolk; also by a son, Edward Oldfield Pierce and his wife, Linda, of Houston, Texas; a daughter, Dr. Sarah Helen Pierce of Baton Rouge, La.; a son, John Leroy Pierce and wife Susan, of Fitchburg, Mass.; also by grandchildren, Steven Edward Pierce, Laura Melissa Pierce of Houston, Alice Parrish Zachary, Mary Walter Zachary, both of High Point, and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 125 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, at 11 a.m. Monday with the Rev. Robert C. Sawyer, the Rev. Janet Watrous and the Rev. Louis C. Melcher officiating. Interment will follow in Oakwood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to a charity of choice or to the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 125 Hillsborough St., Raleigh. Arrangements are being handled by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, St. Mary's Street.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB