PORTLAND – Alice Mary Pierce, a former Waynflete School teacher and trustee who received the school’s prestigious Drake Award in 2008, died Saturday. She was 85.
Ms. Pierce had been a fixture at Waynflete since she was a child. She grew up on Spring Street, a stone’s throw away from Waynflete in Portland’s West End. She attended classes there from first grade in 1930 until she graduated in 1942. She went on to study history at Smith College and graduated in 1946.
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She returned to Waynflete and taught fourth and fifth grades for 10 to 12 years. Her nephew, Tom Pierce of Portland, said Thursday that she loved teaching, especially history and grammar.
“She was a bit of a stickler for proper grammar,” her nephew said. “I still remember the table manners she taught me 60 years ago. She taught us always in a firm, but very pleasant way. She was very influential in our lives. She had a strong sense of family, yet she encouraged everyone to be individuals.”
Ms. Pierce never married and didn’t have children, but was close to her six siblings and 20 nieces and nephews.
She was remembered by her family Thursday as a strong and positive woman. Her nephew said she was the matriarch of the family.
“All family roads led to and through Alice Mary,” he said. “There was never a family event where she wasn’t number one on the invite list.”
Ms. Pierce had a passion for history and genealogy and volunteered for the Maine Historical Society and Victoria Mansion.
She served on the board of trustees at Waynflete from 1983 to 1994. She was later named Trustee Emeritus and continued to attend a few board meetings a year until recently. She also served on the school’s Alumni Leadership Council, where she was instrumental in organizing class reunions and generating financial support for Waynflete. Her contributions earned her the Drake Award in 2008.
“The award is reserved for people that go way beyond the call of duty,” said Sally Price, director of development and alumni affairs at Waynflete.
“She was just a big advocate for the school. It’s a big loss. She was a big part of Waynflete.”
Ms. Pierce enjoyed gardening and playing golf. She hosted a family clambake every summer at her summer home in Cumberland Foreside, known affectionately by her family as “The Rats’ Nest.” The house has been in the family since 1928.
Her nephew said it was a day that she and the rest of the family looked forward to.
“She was a great lady,” her nephew said. “The whole family is going to miss her.”
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:
mcreamer@pressherald.com
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