Former Gas resident John Henry Pierce, 86, died Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010, in Houston, Texas.
He was born March 28, 1924, in Clinton Mo. He was orphaned at age 8 and lived in several foster homes in Missouri and Kansas before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942. He was stationed in Nome, Alaska, in the Air Transport Command and was discharged in 1945.
While working for the Union Pacific Railroad in western Kansas he met Thelma Alice Helena in Augusta and they married there in 1946. After the birth of their only child in 1949 they moved to Gas, joining his wife’s family in owning and operating the Helena and Pierce Texaco Station and Grocery Store from 1949 until the mid 1960s.
In 1966, he moved his family to Houston to help construct the Blue Ribbon Rice Grain Elevators that were located on Allen Parkway. In 1968, he joined Sears & Roebuck and worked in the automotive department until his retirement in 1986.
He liked to hunt and fish. He and was active in Elks Lodge No. 569 in Iola, Reagan Masonic Lodge No. 1037 in Houston, American Legion, Scottish Rite, Sons of Hermann Lodge No. 7, Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas Lodge No. 88, Czech Heritage Society of Texas and the Farm and Ranch Club of Houston.
He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, John Allen and Paula, grandsons and their wives, Shelby and Apple Pierce, Anson and Pei Yi Lin Pierce and numerous other relatives and friends.
His wife, Thelma, died earlier.
Graveside services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Woodlawn Garden of Memories, 1101 Antoine Rd., in Houston.
Memorials may be sent to American Heart Association, 10900-B Stonelake Blvd., Suite 320, Austin, TX 78759.
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