- Date Of Birth: January 10, 1918
- Date Of Death: January 1, 2011
- State: New Mexico
Cecelia Snow Pearce passed peacefully at the Grace Senior Care home in Issaquah, WA, on January 1, 2011 at the age of 92. She was born Cecelia Martha Snow in Pueblo, CO, on January 10, 1918. Her husband Jack, her brother Dan Snow, and her sister Vivian Derrick preceded her in death.
She is survived by her three sons Jack Jr. of Salt Lake City UT, Dan and his wife Nan of San Carlos, CA, and Bill and his wife Denise of Sammamish, WA, as well as six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. She lives on fondly in the memories of the many other friends and family members that she loved so much and whose lives she touched so deeply.
Mrs. Pearce lived in Santa Fe, NM, through high school, and was attending UNM when her father unexpectedly died during her freshman year. She took a job at Fort Bayard to help support her mother and two younger siblings when she was 18, and met her husband-to-be at the boarding house in Santa Rita where they both lived. They were married on February 28, 1939, and moved to Silver City a short time later.
During World War II, Jack Sr. was a Seabee in the Navy, and Mrs. Pearce and Jack Jr. lived in the Oakland/Alameda area, where she was a Civil Service Employee supporting the war effort. The family returned to Silver City after the war, where Mrs. Pearce eventually started the Pearce Agency, which provided accounting and income tax services for many years on Bullard Street in the heart of downtown.
Mrs. Pearce was a savvy, highly ethical, and well-respected businesswoman, and was a fierce advocate for her customers with the IRS, who also had a great deal of admiration for her. Upon her retirement, she handed over the reins of the business to her very capable friends and former employees, Linda and Jay Wysong, who carried on the tradition of stellar service by the Pearce Agency for many years.
Mrs. Pearce was an avid animal lover as well. She raised horses, and had a steady parade of cats and dogs of various sizes and shapes at her home in the Cold Springs Ranch area. She was also an accomplished musician, artist, lapidarist, and jewelry-maker.
Thanks to the loving care from her “second family”, Gabe and Alice Arzaga, Mrs. Pearce was able to remain in her Silver City home until late 2009, when she moved to the Seattle, WA area.
