Carrie A. Pierson 1958-2023

Carrie was born June 21, 1958, in Youngstown, the only child to the late Owen and Margaret Higham Ague of McDonald, Ohio.

Besides her mother, Carrie is survived by her husband of nearly 43 years, Jerome “Jerry” Pierson.

Carrie remains the proud mother of Daniel, a teacher and coach in Frederick County Public Schools, and Maj. Benjamin Pierson, an Army physician, along with his wife, Renee (Connor), and their daughter Fern. Carrie is also survived by Jerry’s nine siblings, Cathy (Jim), Jack, Mike (Judy), Diane, Jim (Kay), Tom, Sue, Joe (Deb) and Ed (Karen). Additionally, she is survived by her uncle, Charles W. Ague, and aunts, Mary Margaret Hatt, and Jean Ague; as well as numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews from the Ague, Higham and Pierson extended families.

Carrie was a 1976 graduate of McDonald High School, graduating magna cum laude in 1979, from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and later attained a master’s degree in counseling from McDaniel College.

She started teaching in Columbiana, Ohio, and continued after her marriage in the Fort Leavenworth, Kan., schools. She also taught soldiers working on their GED at Fort Lewis, Wash., as well as at private schools in the Detroit suburbs and in Columbus.

In 1997, Carrie joined the Frederick County Public Schools as a teacher at Ballenger Creek Middle School, and became a counselor at Crestwood Middle School when it opened in 2004, until her retirement in 2015.

Carrie was an active member of Brook Hill United Methodist Church and leaves behind many friends from the church, Clover Hill neighborhood, book clubs, Frederick County Schools, the local National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, old Army friends, the village of McDonald, and Miami University.

Most notably, she will be missed by her cousin, Sissy Plank of Ellicott City, who traveled extensively with Carrie over her adult years and Mary Ellen Ague-Roth, who shared family trips with Carrie in their youth.

Carrie enjoyed reading, playing board games, spending time with family and friends, and travel – everywhere across the U.S. and the globe. She especially looked forward to her annual show trip to NYC with her mom and cousins.

Carrie was thankful for the medical care she received throughout her long journey with cancer, beginning with Dr. Rachel Mandel, who helped diagnose her condition in 2008; Dr. Faoud Abbas, who removed the initial cancer; Dr. Brian O’Connor, who provided medical oncology support to get her into her first five-year remission; Dr. Michael Lerner, her primary care physician; Dr. Christina Annunziata at the NIH, where Carrie was an exceptional responder for more than five years in a clinical research study; and most recently, Dr. Patrick Mansky and Dr. Naderge Pierre, who helped her with treatments that enabled her to spend time with her granddaughter, Fern, born in August of 2022.

Carrie also wanted to thank the many nurses, therapists, CNAs, pharmacists, home health and hospice teams at Frederick Health and the NIH who provided excellent care through the last several years, as well as those at Citizens, Optum Health, and Right at Home. Carrie appreciated that the vast majority of her medical expenses were well-covered through her insurance programs.

Carrie had a heart for those who were not as fortunate, and donated generously to the Cancer Patient Assistance Fund of Frederick Health Hospital. As such, in lieu of flowers, Carrie asked that memorial gifts be made to the Frederick Health Cancer Patient Assistance Fund, PO Box 718, Frederick, MD 21705 or www.Frederickhealth.org/donatenow to provide assistance to individuals facing financial challenges as a result of their cancer diagnosis.

Carrie’s celebration of life service will be conducted 11 a.m. Thursday, March 23, 2023, at Brook Hill United Methodist Church. The family will greet visitors at a meal in the church Life Activities Center after the service. A streaming access to the service will be available at bhumc.org.

Arrangements were made by Keeney-Basford of Frederick, Md.

(special notice)