Jeane Wilson Pierson

Pierson, Emma Jeane (Higginson) Wilson, in her 90th year, died peacefully on June 5, 2012. Born on September 9, 1922 in Uniontown, KY she grew up on the family’s farm on the Ohio River attending school in a one room schoolhouse and went on to graduate as Valedictorian of her high school class of 1940. With a small sum of money sent from her brother serving in the United Stated Air Force she enrolled in The Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Evansville, Indiana graduating in 1943 and immediately enlisted in the United States Army Nurse Corp serving her country as a 2nd Lieutenant in World War II. After bivouac training in Indiana she was assigned to duty in England, France, and Belgium caring for many wounded soldiers before following the Third Army into Germany as the war in Europe was ending. Returning stateside she lived in Palm Beach, Florida with her sister Janelle and her best friends, Thelma and Kelly. After working at Good Samaritan Hospital in Florida, she moved to NYC to work at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital in Jersey City, NJ specializing in OB/GYN where she championed the new concepts of natural childbirth and “rooming in”. During this time she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Teachers’ College, Columbia University where she met her husband Joseph C. Wilson, Jr. of Bloomfield, NJ. They married in 1952 and moved to Livingston, NJ where she lived for 42 years. She worked nights and weekends as an OB nurse at Orange Memorial Hospital for 10 years before enrolling at Seton Hall University for her Certificate in School Nursing. She became the first nurse at Hanover Avenue School, which later became the Lafayette Learning Center for special education and enjoyed a 20 year career in school nursing until her retirement at age 70. After the sudden death of her husband Joe in 1977, she met Lloyd H. “Hal” Pierson at Olivet United Church of Christ in Livingston where they both belonged. They were married there in 1978 and also became a new stepmother to Hal’s three children, Susan, Bruce and Roger creating the loving bonds of a blended family that remain strong to this day. Hal and Jeane enjoyed nearly 20 years of marriage until Hal’s death in 1997. Throughout her life and in retirement Jeane loved collecting American antiques including furniture, cut glass, primitives, first day covers, and antique postcards. In 1998 she moved to Village Gate in Farmington, CT. to be closer to her daughters and then became a resident at Governor's House in Simsbury in 2000. Her family would like to thank all of her Governor’s House "angels on earth" for their clinical care and compassion during the last 12 years. She leaves two daughters, Jeanette G. Clough of Boston, MA and her son Brad of New York City, NY; and Jessica L. Wilson of Farmington, CT.; her stepdaughter Susan Pierson Reed and her children Katie and Robert of Virginia Beach, VA; stepsons Bruce Pierson, his wife Orquedia and their son Robert of the Dominican Republic; and Roger E. Pierson, his wife Jan and their daughters Melanie and Sarah of Brookside, NJ. She leaves her beloved younger brother Jesse R. (JR) Higginson and sister in law, Peggy Higginson of Henderson, KY. She was predeceased by her older and beloved brother and sister-in-law Marvin and Virginia Higginson, and by her beloved sister, Janelle Jenkins. She also leaves many wonderful nieces, nephews, friends and family in her “Old Kentucky Home” as well as throughout the USA. Friends and family are invited to call at the Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home, 145 East Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, NJ 01739 on Tuesday June 12 from 4-8pm. Funeral services will be held at the Federated Church of Livingston, 6 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, NJ on Wednesday June 13 at 10am. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to the OB/GYN Nursing Education Fund, c/o The Development Office, Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA. 02138.