Kenneth Victor Pierce

Ken died unexpectedly of a heart attack on June 7, 2010. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Mary Jo Pierce; son, Dameon (Christina) Pierce; daughter, Leanna (Todd) Elofson; sister, Elaine (Ron) McDaniel; and father, Don (Pauline) Pierce. Ken was born on March 3, 1950 and grew up in Toledo, WA. He graduated from Toledo High School and received a BS and MS degree from the U of W. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer from '72-'74. Ken worked as a Histotechologist for 28 years. He enjoyed getting together with friends and family and was an avid reader.

In high school Ken played football and was a co-captain of a champion team. He and May Jo started going together in their junior year. He made many life long friends and enjoyed telling stories of the hijinks he played while he was supposed to be working in the hay fields.

At the U of W he studied fisheries and fish pathology. He served as president of the fisheries club his senior year. One of his major college papers involved salt water encroucement through the Ballard locks into the fresh water. At that time the Army Corps of Engineers denyed this problem and Ken was not allowed to publish the paper. The corps later accepted the problem and made significant changes. He also did research on the effects of pollution on fish in the Duamish River and the impact of the local industrial runoff.

Ken and May Jo joined the Peace Corps and went to the Phillipines arribing right after a typhoon and just a few days before martial law was declared. Ken worked with fish farmers to increase production and provide a cheap high protein food source. He enjoyed many encounters with odd wildlife and uniques foods, and met many good friends. Some of his most exciting stories are memories from this time.

Ken got a job with the Dept of Ecology in Olympia for several years in the late 70's and communted from Shoreline in a carpool. He enjoyed studying the rivers and ecosystems and catching those that were causing harm. He met many people traveling the state and kept in touch with some. One of his fellow commuters started a weekend inventory business and Ken continued to work inventories untill 2009 when the business disbanded.

Ken loved to go to school and got an associates degree in histology from Shoreline Community college. He then worked first at Swedish and then joined Medical Laboratory Associates in 1983 where he worked the rest of his life at the "lab". He enjoyed showing new employees the gory details of histology by showing the organs and body parts. He made many friends with vendors and histotechs.

Ken loved to tell stories and jokes. He liked to laugh and make people laugh. Ken greatly enjoyed old movies and re-runs of all versions of Star Trek. He also liked old TV westerns from his childhood and watched them whenever he could. He liked to till and plant in his vegetable garden. He often purchased and grew odd plants just for fun. Weeding however was usually left to someone else. He loved to bring in the harvest when it was ready.

Ken took great pleasure in his children, Dameon and Leanna. He had a strong relationship with both children and was co-worker and friends with Dameon in his later years.

Ken loved hist fish tanks and for many years often grew a few large fish. He always kept a fish tank, even in college and in the Phillipines.

Ken was a past president of the Washington State Histology Society and looked forward to attending the national conventions. He had been working on preparing the "extracurricular activities" for the upcomming national convention in Seattle this fall.

A memorial service will be held Saturday at 2PM at Trinity Presbyterian Church 1315 N 160th Shoreline, WA 98133. Please sign the online guest book at www.washelli.com

Please sign and share your memories by selecting the link on this page

"View Tribute and Sign Guest Book"