Warriors Remember: Donna Pierce

Her legacy is secure in the Wayne and Donna Pierce Trans-California Pathway and the Friends of Donna Pierce Study Room in the Vasché Library, but Donna Pierce, who passed away Sept. 7 at 81, left an enduring imprint at Stanislaus State far beyond just a plaque.

She was a vibrant, giving, caring woman, one of Stan State's most ardent supporters and a friend to thousands.

It's why President Britt Rios-Ellis had the campus flags lowered to half-staff at the request of Associate Professor of History Jennifer Cullison, why the women's soccer team held a moment of silence for her three days after her passing and why outstanding student-athletes will be recognized as the Donna Pierce Warriors of the Week.

Donna Pierce, whose husband, Wayne, arrived as a botany professor in 1971, was significant to the University without ever having an official role, her unsuccessful one-year stint in 1976 as the school's first softball coach notwithstanding.

She raised money for scholarships, attended artistic productions, cheered at athletics events, became the basketball teams' shot clock operator and scorekeeper, and fulfilled her husband's dream by seeing that the Trans-California Pathway was completed.

After Wayne Pierce's death in 2008, Donna Pierce secured donations to complete the pathway that began with 49 oak trees planted and tended by hand in 1989. Wayne Pierce envisioned a walk for students and community members to see flora and fauna from the Valley floor to the Sierra.

Completed in 2012 and renamed for the Pierces by President Ellen Junn in 2023, the pathway is a living classroom for Associate Professor of Botany Andrew Gardner.

"When I first started interacting with it, I thought of it as a botanical garden, a collection of plants, a wild space on campus, and I thought of adding to it," Gardner said. "What Donna taught me is the vitality of the space is related to the personal interactions out there, meeting up with others and holding events. A space without people doesn't matter."

Meeting people was Donna Pierce's specialty. She never met a stranger.

"We were at the Athletics Crab Feed, and she had all of her people at a table," said her younger sister, Marianne Franco. "She introduced me to a lady I'd never met before. Finally, I pulled her aside and said, 'Who is that lady?' She said, 'Oh, I met her in line at Walgreens.' That was typical of Donna. She'd meet someone in line and ask them to come and have dinner with her."

She also loved to work for causes.

She put together a committee to organize a celebration for David Gomes, who had been the baseball team's scorekeeper for nearly 40 years, and she successfully campaigned to have the Warrior Field press box named in his honor.

Sylvia Kisling, who worked in the Financial Aid Office with Gomes, was part of that committee and, upon hearing news of Donna's passing, went through a book of photos of the celebration that Donna made for each committee member.

"There's a picture of her listening to a speaker, and you can tell she is leaning in, really listening to what is being said," Kisling said. "She was a very caring human being who listened to everyone and heard their story and could repeat it word for word. You could see the intensity in her eyes as she listened."

Sara Valentine, who met Donna in 1983 when she arrived at Stan State as a basketball player, saw sparkle in those eyes. She also remembers Pierce's warm smile and her ability to talk to anybody she met.

"She accepted everybody as they were. She had an ability to let people feel they were seen," said Valentine, who lived in Pierce's home for a year when she was going through a difficult time and, a year later, in 2013, bought the house. She was like a daughter to Pierce, but Valentine said it was a mutual relationship.

Valentine hosted Pierce's 80th birthday party at her home a year ago, and it drew 100 or more people, which was a small sample size of the friends she had.

For former Stan State Sports Information Director Hung Tsai's 50th birthday, she rented a suite at the Coliseum for an Oakland Athletics baseball game.

"She always said I was the son she never had," Tsai said. "I'm not what she made me out to be, or her favorite person. She was like that to thousands of people in the community."

She reached out to Linda Bunney-Sarhad, deciding she should become a better friend of the woman who had led international studies at Stan State.

"She started inviting me to go to the opera with her," Bunney-Sarhad said.

Before long, Bunney-Sarhad and Deborah Kavasch would write "The Race" and "Annabelle" for Opera Modesto.

"I'll always be so grateful to Donna," Bunney-Sarhad said. "For some reason she had a sense that was something I needed to do.

"She is the most unique person I ever met. The first time I was invited to join her, she talked nonstop about baseball."

Pierce amazed friends with her ability to recount stats and scores of baseball games. She would dye the top of her white hair and paint her nails in her signature blue hue every baseball season in honor of her beloved Los Angeles Dodgers.

Valentine's teammate Ann Kucera was among many friends she took to Dodger Stadium, but Pierce also paid for Kucera's students at Modesto's Everett Elementary School to take field trips to Monterey.

She loved children and bought her last home to be near neighborhood kids.

Wanda Bonnell, who was conferred a Stan State Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters along with Pierce in 2024, recalls when she first met Pierce as she was launching the Promise Scholars at Stan State in 2008 to help former foster youth. Pierce joined her advisory board and donated generously.

"I feel blessed to have known her," Bonnell said.

That they received honorary doctorates together made them more meaningful.

"I was happy for me, but happier for Donna," Bonnell said.

Valentine honored Pierce by asking friends for donations and, within a week, raised the funds to have a study room in the renovated Vasché Library named for Pierce.

"Donna Pierce offered generous time and energy fundraising for the University Library's Next Chapter Campaign," said Dean of Library Services Ron Rodriguez. "As a supporter and champion of our campus mission, she advanced countless opportunities for students, faculty and programs, enriching the academic and cultural life of the campus."

Thanks to Cullison, Pierce's passion for Stan State can be seen in a video Cullison recorded for a University oral history project.

"She's a storyteller and a lover of history and a gregarious and generous soul," Cullison said. "Those are things I love about her.

"I'm trying to cement her legacy on campus. I'm carrying a little bit of her torch by having students dig up stories she's told me."

Visitation for Pierce will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Allen Mortuary, 247 N. Broadway, Turlock. Church services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, at First Presbyterian Church, 2619 N. Berkeley Ave., Turlock. A light lunch will follow.

Contributed by Lori Gilbert ('91)

Remembrances of Donna Pierce

"On behalf of the Stanislaus State Police Department, we join Warrior Athletics and the campus community in mourning the loss of Donna Pierce, a true Stanislaus State Warrior! Donna's unwavering dedication to Stan State will leave a lasting legacy. She touched many lives of current and previous students. Her absence at Warrior events will be deeply felt. We honor her memory and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends."

-Steve Olson

"She didn't know a stranger. Anywhere she went she met people and wanted to be friends. One of the last times I took her for infusion treatment, she and man got in the elevator together. She learned his life story in 15 minutes. She'd help anybody any way she could, wholeheartedly. That was the humanity in her - to be empathetic. She was there to help."

-Marianne Franco

"She was a very generous supporter of this community and University. When I was involved in any project, she always was supportive and wanted to help me. I did Dancing with the Stars and she was the first person to buy tickets. When I did 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' at the Gallo Center, she read lines with me. She was so wonderful in so many ways. She knew more statistics about the Dodgers than any man I ever met. She was loving and caring."

-Wanda Bonnell

"She was genuinely selfless in her care of other people above herself. She was never seeking attention for herself. It was always about supporting students, people who needed help, the Salvation Army, the Education Foundation or scholarships. She was a selfless gift."

-Mary Hartsfield