Obituary of DONALD R. PIERCE

Donald R. Pierce, 69, passed away December 11, 2013 at the St. Peters University Hospital in New Brunswick. Born and raised in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, he has resided in Piscataway for over 40 years.Mr. Pierce was an Operations Research Analyst for Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, MD and a former Piscataway Councilman.Donnie, as he was known to his Oklahoman friends and relatives, attended Wynnewood schools, graduating as valedictorian of his 1963 class. He continued his education at East Central University where he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, gaining a BS in math and physics. He was the first computer lab assistant there when computers were the size of an entire room. Upon graduation, he started working at Bell Labs in Holmdel, NJ. While there he achieved his MS in Applied Mathematics at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ. He also worked for ATandT, American Bell, Lucent Technologies, Avaya and Cisco Systems. As part of his job, he traveled to several countries, setting up phone systems, doing telephone research, or even substituting as a telephone operator.Growing up in Wynnewood, he was very active in the Boy Scouts, achieving some of the top honors, including the Eagle Scout award at the young age of 13. He attended several Boy Scout jamborees.He thoroughly enjoyed traveling, either for business or pleasure. One of his favorite relaxing places was the Florida beaches and most recently he enjoyed a wonderful trip to Aruba with his daughter Katie and her husband Nick.He was predeceased by his parents, Clarence and Nelle Pierce. Surviving are his daughter Kathryn DeVito and her husband Nicholas of Hamilton Square; his brother John Pierce and his wife Jean of TX; his sister Loretta Stinson and her husband Harvey of OK; several nieces and nephews and a host of relatives and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Donald's name to a charity of your choice.