Jessie Naoma Pearce – Herald Democrat – Sherman Denison Herald Democrat

Sherman Jessie Naoma Pearce, age 104, died at her home in Sherman, Texas, on Thursday, December 22, 2022. She was born in Abilene, Texas on September 17, 1918, to parents Jesse Willard Huffman and Naoma (Grounds) Huffman, of Sadler, TX. She lived from the horse and buggy age to the space age, and from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic to the current Covid pandemic, avoiding both illnesses. Jessie experienced many challenges in her life, but she was a survivor, and considered her life to be a very happy one, always surrounded by a loving family, and strengthened by her Christian faith, instilled in her through the Methodist tradition. She grew up during the Great Depression; her father was in the army in France when she was born, and didn’t see her until she was 6 months old; her mother died when she was two years old, and she and her sister, Chlorie, went to live with her grandparents, Daniel Webster and Sarah Grounds and her two aunts, Mattie and Ruth; when she was about six years old, she jumped off a high ladder, hurting her back, and was paralyzed.

Doctors gave her little chance of walking again, until finally, her grandfather took her to a chiropractor. The two men pulled on her legs and upper body, stretching her back, restoring her ability to move and giving her a long life with no back problems. After her father remarried, Jessie and Chlorie went to live with him and ‘Miss Edith’ in Sadler, TX until her father died when Jessie was 14. In order to complete her teaching certification, Miss Edith took the family (now four children) to Denton for the summer – along with their milk cow. When she finished her courses, Jessie and Chlorie stayed in Denton to finish high school and attend what is now the University of North Texas. Jessie met her future husband, Richard Pearce, at a Halloween party at the first Methodist Church in Denton, and they married on September 25, 1938 at her grandfather’s house in Talpa TX. He officiated at the wedding, being a part-time Methodist minister. Their marriage lasted 66 years until Richard’s death in 2004, and produced six children in 10 years.

They also helped raise one granddaughter. Jessie worked as a homemaker and mother in those early years before disposable diapers, dryers, drip-dry clothes, and two-car families. When her children began to go to college, she got a parttime job at Voertman’s book and gift store in Denton, a job she thoroughly enjoyed and was well-suited for, being an avid reader. Jessie and Richard were charter members of two churches in Denton: Asbury UMC, and later, Trinity UMC, where she baked bread for communion for 20 years. When they moved to Sherman in 2001, they joined Grace UMC, where she set out to make new friends in the church and in her wonderful neighborhood on Shields Street. She especially enjoyed the weekly meetings of the ‘Super Seniors’. When she was almost 94, she contracted West Nile Virus, but to the health department’s surprise, she survived, after two weeks in the hospital and re-hab. Yes, she was a survivor! But it wasn’t so important about how long she lived, but rather How she lived her life that was remarkable. She was a wonderful mother, not setting lots of rules, but teaching by being a loving example. She made friends easily because of her welcoming and generous attitude to all who came her way. She was strong in body and spirit, was curious and intelligent, and loved reading, gardening, and working crossword and jigsaw puzzles.

She also loved to travel and was able to see much of the United States, and some of Europe. She loved telling funny stories of her early life. Jessie was preceded in death by her husband, Richard, her youngest son, Dan, her sons-in-law, Jim Brown, James Kearns, and Lee Ponder, her granddaughterin-law Rachelle Ponder, and her step great granddaughter, Raven Loehr. She is survived by her children, Nana Rylander and Paula Brown, of Sherman, Ginger Gay (John), of Rockport, Sue Ponder, of Denison, and Dick Pearch (Arlene), of Burnet, and also eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren. A memorial service, under the direction of Dannel Funeral Home will be held at Grace United Methodist Church in Sherman on Tuesday, December 27 at 11 a.m., with visitation the same morning from 10 to 11a.m. Pastor Frank Drenner will preside. Burial at the Sadler Cemetery will follow the ceremony. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Grace UMC, 28900 Canyon Creek Drive, in Sherman.