William ""Bill"" Pierson

William ""Bill"" Pierson, born in Elkview, WV in 1929, died on March 21, 2016. His family moved to Denver in 1936, and Colorado remained his home state. A graduate of the University of Denver, Bill began a career in broadcasting in Odessa, Texas, in 1947. In 1952 he entered the U.S. Army. He served for two years, mostly in the Signal Corps, and was discharged as a Staff Sergeant. Following his military service, he resumed his career in radio, working as a DJ, talk show host, and News Director at numerous radio stations, including KFKA (Greeley), KMAN (Manhattan, KS), KRDO (Colorado Springs), and KVOD, KTLN, KOA, and KOSI in Denver. He worked in television for over 30 years as a weatherman, public affairs host, and MC of the PBS (KRMATV) Annual Fundraiser. During President Dwight D. Eisenhower's hospitalization in 1955 at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Bill was one of his press liaisons. In 1965 Bill founded the FM radio station KBPI and operated the station from the D&F Tower in downtown Denver. When the building was condemned, he climbed the 394 steps up the tower every day to maintain his transmitter and wind the clocks. Bill was one of those instrumental in the preservation of the D & F (Clock) Tower, one of Denver's most recognizable landmarks. Following the sale of KBPI in 1973, he continued to operate the Signal Radio-TV Career School, which he had founded in 1961. In 1979, he became the director of the Communications Department of the Colorado Medical Society, where he worked until his retirement in 2006. In 2013, he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado Hall of Fame. Bill's volunteer service included KRMA-TV, USS Missouri (Pearl Harbor) select restoration crew, DIA and the Denver Public Library. He was on the boards of Colorado Outward Bound, City Club of Denver and Historic Georgetown. Memberships included the Denver Press Club and Metro Denver ""Dinosaurs Club."" He also was a long-time member of Denver Toastmasters and recipient of their ""Speaker of the Year"" award. He was on the committee that created the Denver Museum of Nature and Science ""Hall of Life"" and on that board for many years. Bill loved his second home in Georgetown, Colorado, where he spent many happy years with friends and family and restoring vintage army vehicles. He is survived by his wife Ann, daughter Kelly Pierson (Mike Schreiber), son Brad Pierson, grandchildren Jessie, Adam, and Peter Schreiber, and sister Lois Burnett. Donations may be made to the John Tomay Memorial Library 605 6th Street, Georgetown, CO 80444 or the USS Missouri Memorial Association P.O. Box 879 Aiea, HI 96701. Memorial plans are pending.