William Pierce
Dr. William Henry Pierce, 86, passed away on Sunday, January 19, 2020, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Bill was born on July 10, 1933, in Washington D. C. He received his A.B. from Harvard in Physics, cum laude, in 1955; his M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1959 and Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering in 1961 from Stanford; and his M.S. in Medical Biology in 1976 and his M.D. in 1976 from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He worked at Bell Labs and Carnegie Mellon University, then taught Electrical Engineering at the University of Louisville from 1968 until his retirement in 1998. He served in the Navy from 1955-1958. Bill authored numerous papers in computer science, electrical engineering, and medicine, and received many grants as principal investigator, including three from the National Science Foundation.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen (Lynn) Purdy Pierce, his parents, May Bell and William G. Pierce, and his sister Diane Pierce Phillips.
He is survived by his brother, Ken (Linda) Pierce and his children, Joan (Ricky) Bruckman of Mount Vernon IN, Dr. David (Kathleen) Pierce of San Diego, CA, and an additional son, a grandson, Carlos Bruckman, as well as several nieces and nephews.
He was an avid hiker and outdoorsman, bridge player, and photographer. He did carpentry, building such items as his own darkroom and a large gaming table for his son. His ability to recall bridge hands verbatim was phenomenal, as were his insatiable curiosity, breadth of intellectual interests, and habit of speaking his mind without social niceties.
A memorial will be held on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 2:30 p.m. at the chapel in Alexian Village, Signal Mountain, Tn. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery in Louisville, Ky.
Arrangements are by Hamilton Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 4506 Hixson Pike, Hixson, 423 531-3975.