Mrs. Mary Carolyn Pierce

Mary Carolyn Willey Pierce passed away Sunday, December 22, 2019 at Fairhaven in Sykesville. Mary Carolyn was born in Evanston, Illinois on January 6, 1926 to Edward and Carolyn Willey. She attended Northwestern University after graduating high school in Clemson, South Carolina. She married Harold Wesley Pierce of Decatur, GA, shortly after he graduated from Clemson College (now University) where he was a football star playing for Coach Frank Howard. She claims to have fallen in love with him the moment she saw him walking down the street in that small college town. He didn't have a chance. They shared 51 years together raising their four children. Harold went to Europe to fight in WWII, surviving the Battle of the Bulge among other battles in France and Germany. Mary Carolyn wanted to be more actively supportive of the war effort and her husband. To that end she left her comfortable office job to go to work for Bell Aircraft in Georgia. There, because of her small stature she was soon riveting inside the tail sections inside the B-29 Bombers. She was "Rosie the Riveter". The Pierce family lived numerous southern states throughout Harold's career with Transcontinental Gas Pipeline but lived longest in their last home in Ellicott City, Maryland. All of their children graduated from Howard County High Schools. Mary Carolyn was a stay at home Mom and her children and grandchildren would tell you of her sweet, loving and gentle nature. Mary Carolyn was active in the St. John's Episcopal Church altar guild and the Split Rail Garden Club in Ellicott City. She was also a volunteer docent at the Baltimore Zoo. She loved animals of every kind, wild and domestic, but particularly dogs, cats, and horses of which the family had many. Her many summers spent at Camp Deerwoode in Brevard, North Carolina and her time there riding horses was a lifelong source of fond reflections. During her last years just the mere mention of horses resulted in twinkling eyes, a big smile and stories of those cherished years. Her parents, her husband Harold, and sisters Barbara and Jane, predeceased Mary Carolyn in death. Survivors include her brother, Edward "Ned" Willey of Clemson, SC, son Harold "Hal" W. Pierce, Jr. of Oro Valley, AZ, daughters Carolyn "Nicky" Ratliff of Mt. Airy, MD, Lucinda Ferris of North Port, FL, and Barbara St. Germaine of Laguna Vista, TX, 7 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Funeral services will be private and held at a later date where she will rest with her beloved husband Harold in Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Inc., 1372 Woodbine Rd., Woodbine, MD 21765. www.defhr.org

Mrs. Mary Carolyn Pierce

January 6, 1926 - December 22, 2019