Obituary: Army Col. Pierson, 86, had key intelligence role in Cold War

By Art Campos
Bee Staff Writer [Sacramento California]
(Published Sept. 5, 1999)

Memorial services will be held Saturday for retired U.S. Army Col. Leroy Colter Pierson, whose 26-year military career included combat in World War II and intelligence gathering in Korea,Vietnam and the Cold War of the 1960s.

Nicknamed "Colt," Col. Pierson moved to Fair Oaks in 1971 after his retirement from the U.S. Army National Guard, with which he'd been active since 1940. He died Thursday in a local hospital after a heart attack. He was 86.

"He was a fascinating man," said his friend and former neighbor,Roy Liebman of El Dorado Hills. "He took on some very interesting assignments during his military life."

Those assignments included running a network of agents behind the Iron Curtain from 1947 to 1952 to gather information on the Soviet bloc, Liebman said.

He also gathered intelligence during the Korean War and served three years in the late 1950s with the Central Intelligence Agency. In the early 1960s, he gave daily intelligence reports to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"He was one of the first to see the photos of the missiles in Cuba that started the Cuban missile crisis," Liebman said.

In 1962, he became commander of Army intelligence units at the Presidio of San Francisco and went to Japan for counterintelligence duties involving the Vietnam War, Liebman said.

In retirement, Col. Pierson pursued his hobby of gardening.

He was past president of the Fair Oaks Rotary Club, the local chapter of the Retired Officers Association and the Stewart Clan of North America. He was also a member of the Caledonian Club and served as acting executive director of the state Mental Health Association in the late 1970s.

Col. Pierson was a native of Cincinnati, and was reared in Webster Grove, Mo. He and his three brothers all received engineering degrees from Washington University in St. Louis.

While in combat in Italy, his engineering background came in handy when he saved a building from being destroyed by local partisans after he recognized its historical significance based on its architecture, Liebman said.

In gratitude, the building's owners presented Col. Pierson, who was an accomplished horseman, with a custom-made saddle, Liebman said.

Col. Pierson is survived by his wife, Sara Sally Pierson of Fair Oaks; a daughter, Patricia Harper of Tempe, Ariz.; and stepsons, Bill Turner of Hayward and Mike Turner of San Diego.

The family asks that any donations be sent to St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 2140 Mission Ave., Carmichael, or to a charity of the donor's choice.

Memorial services will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at St. Michael's Episcopal Church. Interment will be at San Joaquin National Cemetery in Los Banos.

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Poster's Note: Colt was Immediate Past President of the Clan Stewart Society in America, Inc. He currently had been a member of the Genealogical Committee and volunteered his time at the Clan Tent at various Highland Games and Gatherings. He was well respected and loved by all that knew him. He will be deeply missed. He was a very special man.

One of his brothers is Stuart Pierson. Stuart is also an avid Genealogist.