Lorraine Pierce: 1917-2011

 



              Lorraine Pierce: 1917-2011

Lorraine Pierce, wife of World Vision founder Bob Pierce, went home to be with the Lord on April 4, 2011, surrounded by her loving family. Please pray for her family and the World Vision family during this time.

Life Story:
Ruth Lorraine Johnson was born on Jan. 18, 1917, in Chicago, Ill. Her father, Dr. Floyd B. Johnson, was a radio evangelist in Chicago and Los Angeles and pastor of the Los Angeles Evangelistic Center for 11 years. Her mother, Ethel Niemeyer, of German Methodist descent, was also a strong Christian role model for Lorraine, particularly during Ethel’s second marriage when she helped minister to the needy on Chicago’s Skid Row.

Lorraine met Bob Pierce in the spring of 1936 when she accompanied her father to Los Angeles for meetings organized by Nazarene churches there. A student at Pasadena Nazarene College, Bob was already making a name for himself as a preacher. Lorraine’s father approved when she and Bob began dating. Lorraine attended Pasadena Nazarene College for a semester to be close to Bob. The relationship continued when Lorraine returned to Chicago.

Lorraine and Bob married in Chicago in November 1937. Lorraine hoped for a settled life in which Bob would pastor a church, but it never turned out that way. In the first few years of their marriage, the couple traveled the West Coast as Bob preached in small churches.

They lived on a meager salary provided by church offerings—Bob said they averaged $5 a week—and stayed in the homes of their hosts. This was an adjustment for Lorraine, who had watched her own parents’ marriage fall apart under the demands of her father’s traveling evangelism duties. She described preparing herself for the challenges through an intense, spiritual experience of “dying to self.” Later she conducted a daily exercise of mentally donning the armor of God to shield against the inevitable attack involved in doing the Lord’s work.

When Bob served in Youth for Christ, and later with World Vision, he was often traveling. Lorraine saw God’s hand in her role as homebound supporter and caretaker. Though she longed for her husband, her faith deepened as she learned to depend on God’s promises. Although she joined Bob on a few trips to Asia, her energy was primarily devoted to their children: Sharon, (now deceased); Marilee; and Robin. Lorraine took the lead in caring for the girls, physically and spiritually. She prayed with them every day and encouraged them to read the Bible. When Sharon was young, Lorraine started child evangelism classes for neighborhood children, continuing the classes for years.

While Bob worked to build up World Vision, Lorraine contributed to the ministry in several unassuming ways. Inspired by her husband’s stories about Korean widows who needed a way to support themselves, she arranged to speak in several churches to raise the money to buy 10 sewing machines for the Tabitha Widows Home. She established the World Vision Women’s Auxiliary, a group of wives who gathered twice a month to pray together and support one another. The group took on service projects. Lorraine designed and promoted the Viet Kits program in which thousands of hygiene, sewing, and children’s kits were assembled by volunteers and sent to needy families in Vietnam. Lorraine also championed her husband’s dream of a children’s hospital in Korea, raising $50,000 through the Women’s Auxiliary.

After Bob’s death in 1978, Lorraine established a living memorial called the Robert W. Pierce Award for Christian Service, which annually honors men and women serving the Lord around the world with a prize of between $5,000 and $10,000, through which Christians from many different countries have been recognized. Lorraine believed this was how Bob would have wanted to spend the money—encouraging fellow believers as they labored faithfully in difficult places.

Former World Vision U.S. President Bob Seiple called Lorraine the “birthing mother” of World Vision, and she maintained a mother’s loving link to the ministry for the rest of her life. She prayed for World Vision daily and kept in touch with its leaders, enjoying a close friendship with World Vision U.S. President Rich Stearns, World Vision Canada President Dave Toycen, and past and present World Vision International Presidents Dean Hirsch and Kevin Jenkins. Lorraine Pierce always saw World Vision as a gift from God and a channel for His love and mercy. She never failed to remind the organization of its evangelical roots.

In September 2000, during World Vision’s 50th anniversary celebration, Lorraine traveled to Korea as well as attended the dedication of the U.S. headquarters’ chapel in Federal Way, Wash., to her family. Her last visit to World Vision was in 2006, when she addressed chapel.

Lorraine lived the last years of her life in southern California, near her daughters Marilee Dunker and Robin Ruesga. She is survived by six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Memorial Service Details:
Friday, April 8, 1:30 p.m. PDT
Wee Kirk o’ the Heather Chapel
Glendale Forest Lawn, Calif.