William Samuel Pierce

Pierce_William Samuel_13 Nov 1880

Services Saturday For Wm. S. Pierce

Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon at the St. John L.D.S. Ward for William Samuel Pierce, 83, who died Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the L.D.S. Hospital in Idaho Falls following a recent stroke.

Bishop Melvin Yearsley officiated with the services under the direction of the Benson Funeral Home.

Family prayer at the funeral home was given by Leo D. Williams.

At the chapel, prayers were the invocation, Ren Dives; benediction, Weldon Jensen. Speakers were Glen Lee Williams, who gave the obituary; Nolan Blaisdell, Ralph Harding, Bishop Melvin Yearlsey. Musical numbers were prelude and postlude music, Mary Jensen and Cherrel Budge; vocal solos, Helen E. Jones and Jenkin L. Palmer.

Concluding rites were conducted at the St. John Cemetery with dedicatory prayer by Raiford G. Benson. Casket bearers were grandsons of Mr. Pierce, Sterling Pierce, Douglas Smith, Bruce Smith, Glen Lee Williams, Terry Williams, DelMar Williams.

The eldest of a family of eight, Mr. Pierce was born at Willard, Utah, Nov. 13, 1880, the son of Thomas and Nettie Morgan Pierce. He moved to St. John as a young child and spent most of his life there.

On Dec. 22, 1903 he was united in marriage with Sarah Jones. She died in August, 1957, and since that time he has made his home with his children.

A member of the L.D.S. Church and an active civic worker, Mr. Pierce served as an Oneida County Commissioner for several years, was a charter member of the Farm Loan Association and served on the Pleasant View Livestock Board.

He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Frank E. (Nettie) Smith, Idaho Falls; a son, Sherman, Aberdeen, Idaho; 12 grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren; following brothers and sisters; John M. Peirce, Kate Nielsen, Ogden; Mary Thomas, Margaret Camp, Malad; Evan Pierce, Mud Lake, Idaho. He was preceded in death by a daughter Marianne Williams.