…

Wilma Piercy
Madras resident Wilma E. Piercy died Sept. 17, at the age of 90.
Mrs. Piercy was born Sept. 11, 1914, in Prineville, to an early Oregon pioneer family, Claud C. and Edith E. (McCord) Barney. Her mother was also born in Prineville in 1886. Her grandmother, Ellen Gulliford, was born in Mohawk, Ore., in 1865, after her family’s arrival by wagon train to the Willamette Valley in 1852. In 1869, her family moved to Prineville and were some of the earliest settlers there.
She married Denzel M. Piercy on June 26, 1935, in Prineville. He was in partnership with his brother Kenneth in running the Lyric and Pine theaters in Prineville. Mrs. Piercy became a partner when they bought the Chief Theater and built the K & D Drive-In Theater in Madras.
They enjoyed their role of providing movies for the community for many years until they retired in 1972. After their retirement, they sailed to the San Juan Islands in a trimaran Mr. Piercy had built in his backyard. Later, they wintered in Indio, Calif., where Mrs. Piercy took oil painting classes and produced over 100 beautiful landscapes and florals.
Survivors include her son, Gene Piercy of Sherwood, Ore.; daughters, Carmen Green of Madras, and Sharon Benson of Beaverton; sister, Pauline Harvey of Monrovia, Calif.; aunt, Edna Osborne of Yucaipa, Calif.; seven grandchildren, Craig Piercy of San Diego, Calif., Michelle Piercy of Sherwood, Sherry Joseph of Madras, Diane Thorsen of Hazel Dell, Wash., Cary Benson of Metolius, and Susan Franich of Beaverton; and seven great-grandchildren, Kara Piercy of Sherwood, Joshua and Justin Joseph of Madras, Christopher and Nicholas Thorson of Hazel Dell, Wash., and Tyler and Kelsey Franich of Beaverton.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Denzel Piercy, and her grandson, Terry Benson.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 25, at the Jefferson County Senior Center in Madras, with arrangements under the direction of Bel-Air Colonial Funeral Home of Madras.
Memorial contributions have been suggested to the American Cancer Society, the Jefferson County Historical Society, the Jefferson County Library, or the Juniper Branch of Family Finders.

…

http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=136149