Elizabeth D. Pierce

Betty Pierce passed away peacefully on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at the Friendly Home after a four-year struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Born as Elizabeth Mary Dolan, the youngest of four children, to parents Edwin and Virginia Dolan, she is predeceased by her parents, brother Lawrence Dolan, and sister, Barbara Rowan. She is survived by Richard, her devoted husband of 57 years, daughters Julie Pierce and Jenny Pierce, brother Joseph Dolan and several nieces and nephews.

Betty was a kind and caring person with a warm sense of humor. She was a wonderful wife, mother, friend, and co-worker. She loved animals. Our household rarely lacked a cat as part of the family.

She attended Nazareth Academy, and graduated from Nazareth College where she pursued her life-long ambition to become a teacher. She began her career as a second-grade teacher in the Brighton School District. Following a few years off to start a family, she taught elementary grades for twenty-seven years at St. Ambrose School until her retirement in 2006. Betty loved teaching. She was very creative in her classroom and continually found ways to make learning fun and motivating for her young students. Parents often asked to have their children placed in Mrs. Pierce’s class.

She was strong in her faith and very active in her church. She was a long-time member of the St. Ambrose choir, assisted in the preparations for Friday mass in the chapel and worked as a volunteer in the rectory office. For a few years, she was a volunteer driver for a Catholic charity organization which provided transportation to medical appointments for elderly persons. In recent years, she enjoyed being in the St. Ambrose bell choir.

She had a life-long passion for reading and was seldom without a book or eBook.

Besides long morning walks, pets, favorite TV programs, audio books, and getting together with friends and family, Betty enjoyed the times spent in the Adirondack “camp” she and Dick owned for 53 years in Long Lake. She loved the Adirondack environment and the friends that she knew there. She especially cherished the times that daughters Julie and Jenny could visit at the camp, often in the fall and often with pets.

She was an avid fan of the New York Mets and a staunch supporter of the Duke Blue Devils basketball team. “Coach K” was one of her greatest heroes.

The family will receive friends 4-6pm Friday October 3, 2025 at New Comer Cremations and Funerals, 6 Empire Blvd. (corner of Culver Rd.)

On Saturday morning, at 10 am, assemble at St. Ambrose Church, Peace of Christ Parish, 25 Empire Blvd, Rochester, NY 14609 for Betty's mass of Christian burial. Interment is private at White Haven Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, friends may make contributions to Alzheimer's Association Rochester & Finger Lakes Region Chapter at https://www.alz.org/rochesterny or to The Friendly Home at: https://www.friendlyseniorliving.org/friendly-home/ in memory of Betty.

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