Walter L. Pierce

Dr. Walter Pierce was a former president of the Emory & Henry Alumni Association and the I-HEY Club, and a co-founder of the Sports Hall of Fame.  In recognition of his service to the College, he received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.

Pierce served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  After the war, he enrolled at Emory & Henry and graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1049.  Pierce went on to earn a DDS at the Medical College of Virginia in 1954 and moved to Bluefield, Virginia, where he practiced dentistry until his retirement in 1989.

Pierce was deeply involved in and loyal to the causes he found most significant.  In addition to his tenures at the helm of various alumni and fundraising organizations at the college, he could be found at nearly every E&H football game and was an avid and active supporter of the Wasps.

Pierce also made time to serve on the Graham High School Athletic Booster Club and his local PTA.  He was president of the Kiwanis Club and a town councilman, and he volunteered his dental expertise on several service trips to refugee camps in the mountains of Costa Rica.

Pierce’s civic contributions did not go unnoticed.  He was given the Kiwanis Recognition Award in 1968 and selected lieutenant governor for the Kiwanis Capital District in 1974.  That same year, he was honored with the Town Appreciation Award.  In 1995, the college recognized his life-long devotion and loving service by giving him a Distinctive Service to Emory & Henry Award.

Walter Pierce died at age 71 on February 27, 1996 in Bluefield, Virginia.