Pierce Allen Stevens, Sr - Submitted for the USGenWeb by Richard P. Sevier 12/27/2012

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Pierce Allen Stevens, Sr - Madison Parish, Louisiana

From Hattiesburg, MS American, December 27, 2012

Services were held at 10:00 a.m. Friday at Hulett-Winstead Chapel for Mr. Pierce Allen Stevens, Sr. who died, Tuesday, December 25, 2012 at the age of 87.

Burial will be in Golden Link Cemetery in Anguilla, Ms.

Mr. Stevens was born in the heart of the Mississippi Delta on December 16, 1925 in the small farming community known as Anguilla. He grew up in his home on the banks of the Sunflower River, where he learned to love the country life - hunting, fishing, etc. He was an avid quail hunter.

He attended Anguilla public school where he received school letters in football, baseball, and basketball. Soon after graduating in May of 1944, he volunteered for service in the U.S, Navy. He served proudly on the USS LST 496, achieved the rank of Yeoman, Second Class, and was honorably discharged in June of 1946. In September of 2012 he was able to be a participant in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight - flying to Washington with other WWI veterans to observe the WWII Memorial.

In 1948 while attending classes in Tallulah, Louisiana in preparation to become an entomologist for the Davis Flying Service, his life changed forever. There, working at Allen's Dairy and ice cream parlor where he stopped to get ice cream one day, was the lady with whom he was destined to spend the rest of his life. They met in June, dated in July, and were married on September 11, 1948.

Pierce had ambitions of becoming a physician, but medical schools were overcrowded because of the number of veterans returning from WWII. Over the next few years, he worked for Ethyl Corporation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Western Auto.

In 1967, he began his life insurance career as an underwriter with Lamar Life Insurance Company. In 1972 he became the Hattiesburg Division Manager for Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company. Several times he qualified for Jefferson Standard's President's Club, The Thomas Jefferson Club, The National Quality Award, and others. He retired from Jefferson Standard in 1987 and returned to Lamar Life where on many occasions he led his division and even the entire company in paid sales.

He was actively involved in his local, state, and national professional associations serving on Boards of Directors, committees, and as a charter member of the Mississippi Association of Life Underwriters Foundation. In 1992 he received the prestigious Loise Risher "Man of the Year" Award.

Mr. Stevens loved the Rotary Club and was a charter member of the Petal Rotary Club founded in 1972, a past president, and a Paul Harris Fellow.

His life was guided by his religious beliefs and faith. In his life God came first, and he has always demonstrated it by being active in his church. His primary church homes have been Petal First Baptist Church in Petal, Ms, where he served as a deacon for many years, and Main Street Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, MS.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jesse Allen Stevens and Bessie Mae Martin; infant son, Jesse Allen Stevens; and two sisters.

He is survived by his wife, Jesse (Lee Lott) Stevens of Hattiesburg; two daughters, Dianne Stevens and Linda Haywood of Hattiesburg; two sons, Pierce Allen Stevens, Jr. of Anguilla, MS and David Stevens of New York, NY; fifteen grandchildren, Shane, Shanna, Josh, Bryan and Amber, Brittany, Brandon, Nicole, Jesse, Megan, Kelli, Ashley, Cameron, Matthew, and Molly; six great grandchildren; and one brother, Howard Stevens of Pelahatchie, MS.