Rachel May Pierce

Rachel May Anderton Pierce, 95, of Yakima died January 21, 2014. She was born in West Barrington, Rhode Island on April 5, 1918.

Rachel was a joyful adventurer! She traveled alone to Africa in her 20's when it took many days or weeks on a ship to get there and, in her 80's, took a white water rafting trip and traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Belize.

Rachel was the first child born to Everett Anderton and Marion Hopkins Anderton on April 5, 1918 in West Barrington, RI. Three other children joined the family in the years to come: Evelyn, Everett, Jr. and Donald. The Anderton family lived in Briggs Corner and Attleboro, Massachusetts. Rachel's paternal grandfather owned a silk mill, Irvma Weaving Company, and a jewelry business. Her dad Everett Sr. was a factory superintendent. She had warm memories of summers spent at her grandparent's home on a bay in Barrington Rhode Island.

Rachel received her nursing degree in 1940, her Master's degree in Maternity Nursing/Nursing Administration and another Master's in Psychiatric Nursing. During her career nursed in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington, California, Maryland and Ohio. However most of her career was in Africa. She first went to Africa as a single woman missionary for the Seventh-day Adventist church in the late 1940s. She served in South Africa, Botswana, Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and Malawi, which was then Nyasaland. During those years she delivered many babies, ran a lepersarium, and taught nursing.

In 1963 she married Warren Pierce in Limbe, Malawi. Together they served in Malawi until 1973 when Warren retired. They moved to Yakima but continued making trips to Malawi until 1989.

Rachel loved gardening, birds, travel and hand writing letters to a long list of family and friends from around the world.

She is preceded in death by her husband Warren H. Pierce; parents Everett L. Anderton Sr. & Marion E. Hopkins; and siblings Evelyn C. (Anderton) Perry, Everett L. Anderton Jr., and Donald Anderton.

Survived by many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be at noon today, January 29, 2014, at Rainier Memorial Center followed by a 1:00 p.m. Funeral Service. Burial will follow at Terrace Heights Memorial Park.

To celebrate the life, and share a memory of Rachel, visit www.keithandkeith.com.