Kathie Pierce was many things: a poet, philosopher; musician; athlete; video gamer; chef; and a consummate fashionista. But for all her designer clothes, she was completely down to earth. Kathie knew what was important – and people knew what was important to her -because she poured her heart, soul and energy into causes she believed in. Like the VNA & Hospice Foundation, which, as its former Board Chair until her untimely death in 2023, she held dear. To honor Kathie’s two decades of commitment to the VNA, the VNA & Hospice Foundation created the Kathie Pierce Memorial Garden on the grounds of the VNA Hospice House. “Kathie was passionate about the VNA and the work it does in the community, particularly the underserved and our seniors. She believed in the mission of healthcare,” said the current Board Chair of the VNA & Hospice Foundation, Carol Kanarek, who knew Kathie well.
The official dedication of the garden took place on a beautiful ‘Chamber of Commerce’ day in early March. “I think she’s smiling upon us and saying, ‘Mikey, it better be good because I gave you a prefect day,’ said Kathie’s husband,” Michael Pierce, at the gathering. The garden’s centerpiece is a 6 x 6-foot fiberglass TurtleTrax turtle, part of a mental health campaign, ‘Overcoming Hurdles with Turtles,’ that was spearheaded years ago by the Mental Health Association of Indian River County (MHA). The turtle, appropriately named ‘Kathie a true Jewel,’ was donated by Michael. Barbara Sharp, a local artist painted the turtle and Jane McBride, MA, BLA, of Aiello Landscape was the landscape architect who designed the memorial garden.
Painting the turtle was more than just a job for Barbara Sharp because she considered Kathie, who was fond of Barbara’s work and bought many of her paintings, a friend, although the artist said she learned a lot more about Kathie after speaking with Michael. “The turtle is all about Kathie!,” said Barbara, and she included the many facets of Kathie’s personality on the turtle, including Kathie as a musician, athlete, chef and more.
During the tribute, the director of the VNA & Hospice Foundation, Michelle Deschane, gave a short speech that included some history about Kathie’s initial involvement in the Foundation. She recounted how Kathie was instrumental in helping start the VNA Hospice House Endowment Campaign two decades ago by convincing her father-in-law, Leo Pierce, Sr., and the rest of the Pierce family to donate $1 million from The Leo and Peggy Pierce Family Foundation as the lead donation to the campaign. After donating such a significant amount, which was vital to ensuring the longevity of the VNA Hospice House, Leo felt that his family should have representation on the VNA & Hospice Foundation board. Michael recounted how his father decided who that would be: “We met quarterly for the Family Foundation. He bypassed all of us and stops at Kathie and said, ‘I know you’re going to get the job done,’ so she joined the board and knew how vital the VNA was to our county and how the VNA Hospice House was vital to the community. Eventually she became board chair of the Foundation for seven years. When she got sick, she said, ‘It’s really vital to purchase the land beneath VNA Hospice House to ensure its future.’”
And indeed, Michael spearheaded the purchase of the land with the support of his siblings and his family’s Foundation. During the garden tribute to Kathie, Michael took the time to thank his family, the Indian River Hospital District who sold the land to the VNA, and other donors who stepped up to the plate to complete the purchase.
Michael also noted Kathie’s strong support of another local non-profit, the Mental Health Association of Indian River County (MHA). “One of Kathie’s proudest moments was her heroic efforts to keep the doors open to the Mental Health Association in 2012. The MHA had lost critical funding from two of the major funders and they were facing closure. She put in an all-out effort to save the MHA because she knew the services they provided were vital to our community. She succeeded in stabilizing the MHA with much needed funding while they reorganized and put a new board in place. She did it quietly without any fanfare,” recalled Michael.
Philip Cromer, the CEO of the Mental Health Association, who was present at the garden tribute, said the MHA greatly appreciated this: “Kathie was such a wonderful support of the MHA, and we love her, and we’ll miss her very much and so will the county. Her help was never forced. She’d just ask, ‘Can I help with something?’ She made everything easy; she would come to you to get ahead of the problem.”
Indeed she did. Because Kathie was passionate about life, and everything she did, she did with gusto, commitment, and often, a fun twinkle in her eye. Confident and comfortable in her own skin, she welcomed and respected people with different viewpoints; she understood what made people tick. “Kathie and I were so different,” said Kathie’s sister-in-law, Karen Pierce. “But we were close. We loved to go shopping and have lunch. I miss her. But she would be thrilled with this garden. It’s so simple and the turtle is so creative – it’s Kathie’s life. I feel her presence.”
Michael concurred. “I really think she’s smiling down upon us. The VNA meant the world to her and to my family.”
