Helen Frances Pierce
Helen F. Pierce, known to many as Señora Pierce or Mamacita, passed away in Seattle on Friday January 7th, 2011 from complications of heart disease. She was 92.
Helen taught High School Spanish on Vashon for 27 years. She loved travel. She took groups of teenagers to Mexico and Europe, and hosted foreign exchange students from Japan, Mexico, and Spain. After she retired, she became active in AARP and the Vashon Senior Center, where she planned and organized local trips for seniors and drove the trip bus until she turned 80. She served on the US Census, and the elections, and she wrote numerous articles and biographies for church and civic newsletters. Helen loved having fun. She called Bingo, played cards, and enjoyed wearing costumes or fanciful hats for many occasions. She hosted a big 4th of July party each year for friends of all ages, and she continued to teach Spanish lessons at the Senior Center until she was hospitalized in November, 2010.
Helen was born in Liberal, Kansas on March 21, 1918. Her love of travel may have begun when she was two years old, when her parents, Paul and Elsie Gates, took her with them to Japan as missionaries with the American Baptist Church. In the 1930’s Paul and Elsie purchased property on Kingsbury Road, on Maury Island and built a cabin there. Helen married Cal Pierce in 1944, in Little Rock, Arkansas. They lived in Carmichael, CA for a few years, and then moved back to Seattle to start a family. They adopted three children and gave birth to another. In 1959 Helen divorced her husband and moved with her four children to Maury Island to be closer to her mother. She then took guardianship of her two nephews, and started teaching school full time. This was in the early 1960’s. Helen was a single parent of a multi-racial family of six children, and worked full time for the Vashon School District. She took her children and their friends on many camping trips every summer, singing songs, telling stories, and making sure everyone had their own job to do in setting up camp.
Helen was an original feminist–in terms of being her own person, earning her own way, and making her own decisions. She instilled in her students and her children a fierce sense of inclusiveness and respect for other cultures and anyone who was considered “different”. She had a wonderful sense of humor and compassion, and she lived life to the fullest.
Helen was preceded in death by her sister, Esther Grant, of Skykomish, WA, her daughter, Catherine Marie Longtree Pierce, of Seattle, her son, James Madison Pierce, of Seattle, and her grandson Adam Eugene Boston. She is survived by her daughters, Judy Ringold, of Bremerton, and Deb Pierce, of Vashon, her two nephews, Tony and Bill Grant, of Seattle, four grandchildren, thirteen great grandchildren, and eight great, great grandchildren.
A memorial service/celebration of life will be held at the Vashon United Methodist Church on Saturday January 22nd, 2011 at 2pm. Attendees are encour-aged to wear bright festive colors and/or hats, and to bring stories about Helen to share with friends and family. Donations to help with expenses can be made to
Deborah Pierce, 23315 Kingsbury Road SW, Vashon, WA 98070.
Please visit our online guest book at www.islandfuneral.com.
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