Necrology

Michael Edward Pierce '58

May. 2, 2019-Mar. 31, 2006

Michael Edward Pierce ’58, a longtime entrepreneur and community activist in Woodstock, VT, was born on May 2, 1936, in Mt. Kisco, NY. The son of Edward T., a lawyer, and Katherine Rogers Pierce, he grew up in Chappaqua, NY, where he was graduated in 1954 from Horace Greeley High School. Mike Pierce entered Hamilton that year and joined Theta Delta Chi. He became vice president of the chapter and took responsibility for its brindle boxer, the “noble and gregarious beast” Atlas. President of the Intramural Council and a member of Nous Onze, he majored in history and was graduated in 1958.

Wed on June 27, 1959, to Lowell B. Brook in Chappaqua (a marriage that would last for 15 years), Mike Pierce went to work as a sales representative for the American Can Co. in New York City. He continued in its employ in various locales for a decade, including several years in Chicago. He settled thereafter in Woodstock, where his entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take risks, already evident in college, were given rein. He founded and served as president of Green Mountain Opportunities, Inc., a vehicle for his local enterprises, which included commercial real estate, a Sears Catalog store, and two restaurants.

Within the Woodstock community, Mike Pierce served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and as chairman of the board of the North Chapel Universalist Church. He was also a founder and director of the Hanover Bank & Trust Co. of New Hampshire. Genial by nature, and a man who made friends easily, he had a wide range of leisure-time interests that encompassed duck hunting and photography as well as basketball, bowling, and racket sports.

Afflicted for the past 12 years with Alzheimer’s disease, Michael E. Pierce died on March 31, 2006, at a nursing home in Hadley, MA. He is survived by two daughters, Heather Kelley and Arden L. Pierce; two sons, Brian E. and Joseph A. Pierce; and three grandchildren and a sister.

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