Obituary of Flerida Pierson

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's

great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops.

Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.” Norman Mclean, A River Runs

Through It.  We would like to borrow Norman Mclean’s thoughts and look under some of the rocks

in the life of Flérida Pierson.  She was orphaned as a young girl and raised by her maternal

grandparents Juan and Margarita Urias on a farm in Sinaloa, México  named “La

Primavera”-The Spring (season).  From her grandparents and her extended family, she

received love, caring, guidance, learned the virtues of hard work and developed the

personal operating system that were the basis of her being.  In 1949, she married Joe

Pierson and by 1961 they were the proud parents of  one girl and four boys.  Her first three

youngsters were boys, Flérida wanted a daughter.  So, she and Joe kept trying.  As the fates

ordained, her prayers were answered with the birth of their fourth child, a baby girl who is

named after her maternal grandmother.  The baby in the family is named after her

grandfather.  For those of you that have, or, are thinking of having five children in this

span of time let me just say, it is a challenge!  Flérida loved babies, many times while

shopping, or, in public, she would she see a little one and fawn over the baby cooing,

appreciating its innocence and cuteness.  Her only daughter would admonish her to not do

this, usually, to no avail.  Flérida loved her grandkids and was lucky enough to get to know

and love her great grandkids, as well.   When she arrived here to the U.  S.  of A, she did

not speak English.  By the time she left us, she  had pretty much learned the language “on

the job” and  spoke “American” pretty darn good.  Those of us who have tried to learn a

foreign language as an adult can appreciate the difficulty of this task.  Despite her best

efforts at correct pronunciation, Flérida could not outrun her native Spanish language

in which “e” is pronounced as “i”.  When speaking “American”,  this is typically not an issue. 

However, this pronunciation becomes problematic when buying sheets.  In order to avoid

the issue of mispronouncing the word when buying sheets, she would describe them to the

salesperson as: “those white things that you put on a bed to sleep on.”  She was a widow for

a number of years, during this time she lived independently, travelled as a member of the

Friendship Force International, and devoted time to her family and friends, her crafts and

her intellect.   When she was sitting in her recliner at home, she was usually reading

something and loved reading “National Geographic”.  She was also known to watch an

occasional “telenovela” (Mexican soap opera). When Father Time caught up with her and

she could no longer do things on her own, her only daughter took her under her wing and

served as her caregiver.  For this we are eternally grateful. As  Flérida got on in years she

would often provide her own take on life: “It’s hell to getting old, and, damn inconvenient,

too!”   Descriptions of her as: Mother, daughter, sister, spouse, wonderful friend are

inadequate to tell us who the woman known as Flérida Pierson was…  Is.  After she was

made, the mold was broken, and, there are no more like her.  She was generous in spirit,

loving and was kind and giving by nature.  Flérida was frugal, creative, industrious and

always ready with a joke.   She was knitting up until near the time she died.  When we

would walk with her in the neighborhood in her later years she would tell us a short poem

in Spanish: “Si siembras manzanillo, albahaca, y romero, siempre tendras dinero.”  If you

plant olives, basil and rosemary, you will always have money.   She loved plants.  The world

lost a rare gem when Flérida Pierson passed away on July 10, 2019.  We love you, Mom.