Obituary of Mary Elizabeth Pierce

Mary Elizabeth “Lib” Goodwin Pierce

Mary Elizabeth “Lib” Goodwin Pierce, 100, recently of Shreveport, and previously of Hoover, Alabama, passed away peacefully at The Glen, December 29, 2019. She was born July 5, 1919 in Raleigh, North Carolina. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 January 18, 2020, at First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport, 900 Jordan St., with Rev. Dr. Chris Curie leading the service. The family will receive visitors after the service in the parlor. Internment will be a private family service.

Lib was the fourth of five children born to Julius Earl Goodwin and Mabel Claire Hill. She grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she lived until 1943. She met her future husband, Joe Battle Pierce, at the Southern Ice Cream Company in Greensboro where they both worked in 1940. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1941, and their courtship continued by mail until they decided to marry on May 28, 1943, in Waco, Texas, where he was stationed at that time. This began an interesting period of their lives where they moved 19 times during his 30 year USAF career. They lived coast to coast and in Okinawa in those times, including 7 years at Barksdale AFB.

Upon his retiring from the Air Force in 1971, after 30 years of service, he went to work with Hayes Aircraft in Birmingham, and they made their last move to Hoover Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. There, they bought their first house as they mostly lived in base housing before, and this house became her castle for the next 40+ years. Her home was her hobby and her avocation. If cleanliness is truly next to godliness, she earned her wings many times over. She was also a long time and proud member of the Birmingham P.E.O. chapter.

She was predeceased by her parents, her husband CWO4 Joe Pierce (USAF Ret.) who passed away in 2014, and her siblings Julius Goodwin Jr, Phillip Goodwin, and Louise Goodwin Fields, who all resided in North Carolina, and Bobby Goodwin of Hampton Roads, VIrginia. She is survived by her son, Joe B. Pierce, Jr. (Susan) of Shreveport, La, and daughter Louise Pierce Draper (Bobby) of Folsom, La. She had six grandchildren - Lark Draper Myers (Marc), Claire Draper Barker (Nick), Joseph (Trey) Pierce III, Todd Pierce (Melinda), Brian Pierce (Corie), and Betsy Pierce Britton (Andrew). There are five great-grandchildren - Daniel and Dalton Pierce, Kelsie and Dylan Pierce, and Cash Britton, and two step-great-grandchildren - Austin Mason and the late Zachary Mason.

In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to Southminster Presbyterian Church, Vestavia Hills, AL, First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport, or The Glen Retirement System.