Donald Shelton Pierce Sr.

Donald “Don” Shelton Pierce, M.D. of Castine, Maine and Covington, Louisiana, died on March 3, 2022 at 91. Born in Castine to Jeannie Emmet and Frederick Ernest Pierce, he grew up in both Castine and Hanover, New Hampshire, where his father lectured at Dartmouth College.

With his brother, the late Laurie Pierce, he graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College. While in college, he was called to serve in the Air National Guard, stationed in Germany, before attending Harvard Medical School. A dedicated doctor and published academic, he contributed to the development of the halo brace used for spinal cord injuries and became an Associate Clinical Professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School, practicing at Massachusetts General Hospital for 44 years. He was active in the Cervical Spine Research Society, the American Orthopedic Association, and was a member of the Dean’s Council of Harvard Medical School. A passionate skier—who (between runs) donated his services in the clinic at Waterville Valley--and a lifelong sailor, he loved to sail, race and cruise the Maine Coast with his family. Active in golf and tennis, and a longtime member of The Castine Golf Club, he was appointed to the CGC Board of Governors in 1968 and served two terms (1969, 1970) as commodore of the Castine Yacht Club.

Don was the beloved husband of Dianne Allen-Pierce of Covington, whom he married in 2016, and the late Janet Ten Broeck Pierce, his wife of nearly 60 years; loving father of four children D. Shelton Pierce, Jr. (Hwacha Lee), Stanton Ten Broeck Pierce, Frederick Ernest Pierce, II (Lisa Pierce), and Jennifer Pierce Barr (Edward Barr); and “Gran Don” to Ashley, Freddie, Libby, Lydia, Kaeli, Hadley, Cordelia, Jack, Evan, Sophia and Fiona; great-grandchildren, Blakely, Bohdi, Finn and Banksy; along with Dianne’s family, stepsons Edward Budd (daughter, Zoë) and Nicholas Budd (wife Jennifer and their children, Bailey, Brylee, and Leia).

A lifelong Episcopalian, he was an active member of local parishes in every community he lived in. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Don and Laurie Pierce to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601; or, to Trinity Episcopal Church in memory of Don, 150 Perkins St. (P. O. Box 433), Castine, ME 04421.