William Lanier Pearce III

William Lanier Pearce III, of Jacksonville, Florida, passed away February 23, 2023 after a six month battle with an extremely rare form of esophageal cancer. William lived a life of superlatives.

William was born in Jacksonville, FL on September 30, 1987. From a very young age, William was a highly driven individual. Everything he undertook, he went at 110%. While still in high school, he was introduced to the sport of Triathlon, and immediately set out to dominate his age group. He trained at The Bolles School for swimming, ran track and cross country for the run, and purchased and maintained his own racing bike. It wasn’t long before he was competing at the national level on the Aegis Junior National Triathlon Team, traveling all over North America with his father to compete in national and international events. After high school, he ran track at the University of Florida briefly before transferring to the University of North Florida where he was twice named Scholar Athlete of the Year and was a five-time conference champion. William followed in his physician grandfather’s footsteps, attending medical school at the University of South Florida, where in 2013 he was honored by the American Medical Association, appointed to serve as their Government Relations Advocacy Fellow... a year-long position based in Washington, DC advocating for the AMA in congress. After his residency at Tampa General Hospital, he worked as an independent emergency room physician with the ERG Group in the Baptist Medical Center System in and around Jacksonville. During this time, he rekindled his love for Triathlon, and won enough races to be invited by USA Triathlon, the governing national body for Olympic Triathlon, to compete as a certified elite athlete, the highest level of the sport.

In May, 2022, he married Michaelia Sunderland and moved to Dallas, TX for her to complete her surgical hand fellowship. In August, 2022, he was diagnosed with cancer and his parents and sister moved to Dallas to be with William and Michaelia for his final battle, which he approached as he has everything else in his life.

Of all William’s superlatives in life, his greatest was renewing his faith as a devoted Christian. He was rebaptized and fully committed his life to God and Christ in his final months. No higher accolade can be said of a man than to say that he was a true Christian.

William was predeceased by his grandmother, Judith Lively Daugherty. He is survived by his wife, Michaelia Shelby Sunderland, MD. His parents, William Lanier Pearce Jr and Linda Denise Pearce. His sister, Lauren Denise Pearce. His Grandparents, William Lanier Pearce, MD and Blanche Diane Pearce, and Raymond Henry Daugherty.

Arrangements are as follows:

• Memorial Service, Dallas: 2:30PM, Sunday February 26 at Campbell Road Church of Christ, 2828 West Campbell Rd, Garland, TX. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JDra0S1vNc

• Visitation: 4PM – 8PM, Friday March 10 at Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Lodge, 4801 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL. 32207

• Service: 1PM, Saturday March 11 at San Jose Church of Christ, 6233 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOTZUJwiJ2U

• Graveside Service to follow: Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Cemetery, 4801 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL. 32207

• Reception to follow, location to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, an academic/athletic scholarship has been established in William’s honor at the University of North Florida. It was William’s intent for years to create a scholarship when he was financially able. When the scholarship fund reaches $25,000, it will be converted to a permanent annual endowment in William’s name supporting a track student athlete to be chosen by the school each year. Donations can be made specifically for this scholarship, directly to UNF here:

https://give.unf.edu/honoringwilliam

For more stories and photos of William, and to share your own, see the “William Pearce Cancer Support Group” on FB at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1218805312309600