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 1933 - 2022 (89 years)
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| Name |
James William Piercy [1] |
| Birth |
22 Jul 1933 |
Clintonville, Greenbrier County, WV  [2] |
- JAMES WILLIAM PIERCY
I was born on July 22, 1933 at Clintonville WV to Jesse and Liuba Prue Piercy. I attended Central Grade school in nearby Lewisburg (the school is no longer standing). In the 8th grade I won the Golden Horseshoe Award (only two are awarded in the county) based on knowledge of geography and government of the State of West Virginia. I got to go to Charleston to get my award which is the first time I was ever out of Greenbrier County.
I attended Lewisburg High School from 1947 to 1951. Mom would not let me play football for my first two years. I was a fair athlete, but got no offers for college and I really was too small.
After graduation, Mom and Dad moved to Livermore, California where I worked as a plumber’s apprentice.
We came back to WV in May 1952 after the farm caretaker moved off the farm. Mom and I drove all the way from Livermore in 4½ days to Clintonville.
I always wanted to go to college so I started at West Virginia Tech in the summer of 1952 and graduated in 1957 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. I went to work on May 27, 1957 at Union Carbide Corporation.
I bought my first real car on June 7th and got married on June 14th all in 1957. I had met Leona at a singing convention in early 1952, but I never saw her again until 1954. We hooked up again when she entered nurses training at Laird Memorial Hospital in Montgomery.
After a year and half at Union Carbide I was about to be drafted, so I joined the West Virginia Air National Guard, and they sent me to pilot training at Mission AFB in Texas and Craig AFB in Alabama. Brian, my first son, was born at Craig AFB in Selma, Alabama.
I returned home in February of 1960 with my USAF wings and started flying with the ANG. I spent 28 years in the guard and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. I was blessed to be able to fly all over the world from East Berlin when the wall was still there to New Zealand. I retired from the guard in 1987 with 5200+ flying hours in C-130s.
After 1 year at Yeager airport as the Manager of Maintenance, I was offered a position in the community college at my old school, WV Tech. I taught full-time from 1986 to 2003 when I retired. I now teach math to disadvantaged men and women who do not have a high school education and want a GED.
I had a radical prostatectomy in 2009, some radiation in 2013 and a shoulder dislocation in 2015. Otherwise I am in reasonably good health.
As you will read, all the kids have done very well, have good jobs, great families and I have had no problems whatso ever from any of them which I credit to their mother. Thank God, they came along before drugs got rampant in WV. I am so proud of Leona and the job she has done in raising the kids while I was working, flying and trying to make a living. I am currently teaching math to disadvantaged men and women who want GED’s. I don’t know how much longer this will last, but I am ready to move on. We just got back from Costa Rica for a week and had a great time. Thanks for the summary of mom, it was great. I sleep under one of her quilts every night and look at her picture every morning when I got up.
Correspondence from James William Piercy; June 10, 2017
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| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
3 Nov 2022 |
Elkview, Kanawha County, WV [1] |
- Obituary -- James William Piercy
James "Jim" William Piercy was a husband, son, father, uncle, grandfather and friend. He peacefully departed this world on Thursday, November 3, 2022 lovingly surrounded by his wife Leona and family.
He was born to Jesse and Prudence Piercy on July 22, 1933 in Clintonville, Greenbrier County.
He attended Central Grade School where he won the Golden Horseshoe in 8th grade and Lewisburg High School where he played football. After graduating high school, Jim met his wife Leona at a singing convention and they began dating in 1955. They were both were students on the campus of WVU Tech, where Jim served as student body president in 1956. Jim and Leona were married on June 14, 1957 at Kincaid United Methodist Church, Fayette County. After Jim received his B.S. in Engineering, they moved to Charleston where he worked for Union Carbide as an Electrical Engineer for 29 years. In 1975 he received an M.S. in Engineering from the College of Graduate Studies in Institute.
Jim joined the Air National Guard in 1958 and received the Commander's Trophy for being the top graduate in his 1960 Pilot Training Class. Jim served in the ANG until 1987, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel with over 5,200 flying hours in C-130 aircraft. After a brief tenure at Yeager Airport, Jim served a proud faculty member of WVU Tech from 1986 until 2003 years, teaching Electrical Technology. Jim then went on to teach math to disadvantaged men and women who did not have a high school education and wanted to get their GED up until 2019.
Jim is survived by his wife of 65 years, Leona Piercy of Pinch, son Brian (Chris) Piercy of Charleston, WV; daughter Valerie Jo Harris (Rob) of Marietta, GA; son Jay Piercy (Renee) of Chattanooga, TN; daughter Jennifer Piercy (Brian) of Cross Lanes, WV; grandsons Tyler Harris, Alex Piercy, Drew Piercy, Jackson Igo, Carter Igo, Max Kidd, and granddaughter Alden Harris, sisters Barbara Stone of Clintonville, Janet McNeel of Hillsboro, brother Pete Piercy of Clintonville and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
Jim was a member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church for over 20 years in Pinch, served as a WV Track and Field Official, Hospice Care Volunteer, avid pilot and WV Air Guard Member, loved his local YMCA, gardening, playing gospel music with the Happy Valley Boys and Gospel Harmony Boys, volunteering, and his family.
Special thanks to Joanna Hinnamon Block for her care and devotion to Jim and Leona.
Visitation will be held at Hafer Funeral Home in Elkview on Wednesday, November 9 from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm with a memorial service at 1:30 pm. Burial will immediately follow at Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Dunbar. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to HospiceCare.
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| Person ID |
I131 |
Crane Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
27 Sep 2023 |
| Father |
Jesse James Piercy, b. 17 Jul 1901, Cornstalk, Greenbrier County, WV d. 8 Mar 1990, White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County, WV (Age 88 years) |
| Mother |
Liuba Prudence Crane, b. 25 Nov 1906, Rupert, Greenbrier County, WV d. 17 Aug 2009, Smoot, Greenbrier County, WV (Age 102 years) |
| Marriage |
30 Nov 1929 |
Baptist Parsonage, Rupert, WV [3, 4] |
- Life, anniversary full of music
By Debbie Schwarz Simpson
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS -- "Music hasn't been part of life, it has been all of our life," Prue Piercy said with a twinkle in her eyes. Sitting beside her husband in his room at the White Sulphur Springs Family Care Center, the Clintonville resident looks back over sixty years of marriage. The event was marked with a wedding anniversary celebration hosted by the couple's family as well as the staff at the nursing home on Sunday.
Like the Piercy's life, the afternoon gala was filled with melodies. The couple's youngest son, Pete Piercy and his sister Barbara Stone, founders of The Believers, a well-known gospel quartet which also includes Frank Hampton and Sterling Morgan, performed as did two of the honoree's grandchildren. Curtis and Christine Piercy are members of the Kingdom Heirs, singing with Jack Hicks and Susie and Valerie Harvey. V. Trout of Rainelle played several selections on the banjo while Garland Walkup of Hines performed on the French Harp.
Tracing her family's love of music to her husband, Mrs. Piercy recalls that it was a half century ago when Jesse Piercy played banjo with the Woodchoppers, a group that was featured on Roanoke, Va. radio for a number of years. "Our son, James, played barbershop piano," noted Mrs. Piercy. She added that her other daughter, Jane [sic] McNeel, also is adept at the piano.
The former Prudence Crane, daughter of the late W. S. and Mary Crane of Rupert and Jesse Piercy, son of Andrew J. and Mattie Piercy of Clintonville, were married on Nov. 30, 1929 by the Rev. G. A. Winebrenner at the Baptist parsonage in Rupert. With the exception of one year in Livermore, Calif., the couple has resided on the 189 acre farm at Clintonville for their entire married life. "We had a small filling station and convenience store near
Clintonville," Mrs. Piercy said, whose husband was a mechanic and farmer until ill health forced his retirement. "I was a correction officer at the Federal Correctional Institution in Alderson for 16 years, but I retired due to my husband's health," she said.
Staunch members of James Chapel United Methodist Church at Clintonville, during the reception [for] the Piercys listened as two former ministers of the small church, Rev. B. B. Mitchem , of Asbury and Rev. Sterling Morgan of Rupert, as well as a former neighbor, the Rev. Leroy Crane of Lewisburg, gave anecdotes regarding the couple's long life together.
Active in the rural community which has been home since her marriage, Mrs. Piercy was a founder of the Clintonville Home Demonstration Club and, with Blanche Whitlow, of the Clintonville Senior Citizens. "We've had a wonderful life together," Mrs. Piercy said of the long-time union which she maintains has been as harmonious as an old fashioned tune.
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| Family ID |
F27 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Sources |
- [S2931] Obituary, PIERCY, James William, 21 Dec 2022 (Reliability: 3).
Obituary -- James William Piercy
James “Jim” William Piercy was a husband, son, father, uncle, grandfather and friend. He peacefully departed this world on Thursday, November 3, 2022 lovingly surrounded by his wife Leona and family.
He was born to Jesse and Prudence Piercy on July 22, 1933 in Clintonville, Greenbrier County.
He attended Central Grade School where he won the Golden Horseshoe in 8th grade and Lewisburg High School where he played football. After graduating high school, Jim met his wife Leona at a singing convention and they began dating in 1955. They were both were students on the campus of WVU Tech, where Jim served as student body president in 1956. Jim and Leona were married on June 14, 1957 at Kincaid United Methodist Church, Fayette County. After Jim received his B.S. in Engineering, they moved to Charleston where he worked for Union Carbide as an Electrical Engineer for 29 years. In 1975 he received an M.S. in Engineering from the College of Graduate Studies in Institute.
Jim joined the Air National Guard in 1958 and received the Commander’s Trophy for being the top graduate in his 1960 Pilot Training Class. Jim served in the ANG until 1987, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel with over 5,200 flying hours in C-130 aircraft. After a brief tenure at Yeager Airport, Jim served a proud faculty member of WVU Tech from 1986 until 2003 years, teaching Electrical Technology. Jim then went on to teach math to disadvantaged men and women who did not have a high school education and wanted to get their GED up until 2019.
Jim is survived by his wife of 65 years, Leona Piercy of Pinch, son Brian (Chris) Piercy of Charleston, WV; daughter Valerie Jo Harris (Rob) of Marietta, GA; son Jay Piercy (Renee) of Chattanooga, TN; daughter Jennifer Piercy (Brian) of Cross Lanes, WV; grandsons Tyler Harris, Alex Piercy, Drew Piercy, Jackson Igo, Carter Igo, Max Kidd, and granddaughter Alden Harris, sisters Barbara Stone of Clintonville, Janet McNeel of Hillsboro, brother Pete Piercy of Clintonville and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
Jim was a member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church for over 20 years in Pinch, served as a WV Track and Field Official, Hospice Care Volunteer, avid pilot and WV Air Guard Member, loved his local YMCA, gardening, playing gospel music with the Happy Valley Boys and Gospel Harmony Boys, volunteering, and his family.
Special thanks to Joanna Hinnamon Block for her care and devotion to Jim and Leona.
Visitation will be held at Hafer Funeral Home in Elkview on Wednesday, November 9 from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm with a memorial service at 1:30 pm. Burial will immediately follow at Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Dunbar. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to HospiceCare.
- [S870] William Starr Crane, Crane Family Bible, 14 Sep 2013 (Reliability: 3).
- [S3454] Marriage Record: CRANE, Liuba Prudence & PIERCY, Jesse James, (Book 10, Page 28, Year of 1929.), 14 Jan 2017 (Reliability: 3).
- [S3455] Life, anniversary full of music (Reliability: 3).
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