Shirley Martha Pierce, age 92, passed away on February 21, 2022 at Brookdale Geary Street Memory Care in Albany, OR.  She was born on August 29, 1929 in Newman Grove, NE to Fred and Ella Meier.  After her father's death, she moved to Oregon with her family in 1947.  On July 4, 1949 she married Otis Leroy Pierce and they lived in Lyons and Eugene before settling again in Albany in 1959, where they resided the rest of their lives.  Otis worked in plywood mills and Shirley had her hands full raising their three daughters.  In addition to all the usual duties, she sewed all of their clothes and grew and canned countless jars of fruit and vegetables. She became an OSU Extension Master Gardener.  When the girls were all in school, she began work at the Swept Wing Motel as a maid, quickly rising to the head housekeeper position.  She and Otis both enjoyed league bowling for many years, and when her arthritic fingers ended that activity, she took up painting.  She became expert in a number of media forms including tole painting, portraiture, land and seascapes and eventually she moved on to painting intricate designs on china pieces as well as teaching.  At the same time, she found a love of roses and eventually had several hundred hybrid tea and miniature roses growing in her yard and raised beds.  She was very active in the leadership of the Albany Rose Society and won scores of awards for her roses at the local, regional and even national levels.  In addition to being a Pacific Northwest Consulting Rosarian she earned the honor of becoming an American Rose Society Accredited Horticulture Judge and judged rose shows for a number of years.  Bird watching was another passion of Shirley's and she was a member of Audubon for many years.

Shirley was preceded in death by Otis and her siblings Kenneth Meier, Verona Meier Martinak, Dean Meier and Sandra Meier Thompson.  Shirley is survived by daughters, Denise E. Pierce of Portland, OR, Carol A. Pierce, M.D., Janice S. Duringer, and daughter-in-law Kaye L. Crandall, all of Tucson, AZ.

No service is planned but please consider a memorial donation to Albany General Hospital Foundation, SafeHaven Humane Society or a charity of your choice.  The family would like to thank the staff at Brookdale Geary Street for their years of excellent care for both Otis and Shirley.