Carolyn Powers Pierce

Carolyn Lee Powers Pierce of Reidsville, NC died on Monday, October 12, 2026, surrounded by her family.

Carolyn was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on April 29, 1947 to Warren Preston Powers and Harriet Evelyn Eastman Powers [both deceased]. Shortly after her birth, the family left Hawaii, where Preston was serving in the US Navy during WWII, and moved back home to West Jefferson, NC. Carolyn’s younger brothers, Larry and David, were both born in West Jefferson and the kids were all raised there.

Growing up in the mountains, she graduated from Ashe Central High School, class of 1965. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she went on to study Education at Appalachian State for 2 years.

Following college, Carolyn married West Jefferson native, Hoke Allen Pierce, who predeceased her in 1988. The young couple resided in West Jefferson, NC [where daughter Barbara was born], in Valle Crucis, NC, and Staunton, VA [where daughter Melissa was born], before settling in Wentworth, NC where the girls were raised.

In Staunton, the couple worked on the renovation of a vintage home. Stories of Carolyn on ladders peeling layers and layers of wallpaper from 12-foot ceilings are still remembered. In addition to raising their daughters, the couple fostered children from the Virginia Department of Social Services. Carolyn was particularly adept at working with children from difficult circumstances. Armed with this special gift, the Pierce home became a gathering hub and support network for a host of families fostering children. Barbara recalls weekends where the house was brimming full of kids while her mom provided respite to other foster parents. Carolyn and Hoke developed a special bond with some of the children, and were heartbroken when they were unable to adopt their foster son Tommy. She carried that disappointment throughout her life.

When the family moved to Wentworth, Carolyn landed a job in the Rockingham County School System, where she worked for almost 30 years. She excelled in her first role as a teacher’s assistant in the 2nd Grade at Bethany Elementary School. She delighted in working with her teammate, Claudia Foote. She was fiercely dedicated to her students; inventing methods of helping them to learn and grow in ways that worked to their individual strengths. Her experience fostering children in Virginia gave her an advantage when she began working in the school system. Carolyn proved to be especially astute at helping the kids that came from troubled backgrounds or had learning disabilities. And, she always kept a little money in her desk drawer to discreetly give to kids who didn’t have lunch money. Despite working in a job with very modest pay, she was devoted to her work and the students she served. For many years she worked long days, setting an example and instilling what it means to have a strong work ethic to her daughters.

Never one to rest on her laurels when it came to education, Carolyn was ahead of her time embracing the use of computers in the school system and she was an eager learner when the SIMS system was adopted into Rockingham County Schools. She was among the first at the school to learn the computer and she put in countless evening hours at home mastering it. During this time, she became the first SIMS Coordinator at Bethany and moved out of the classroom into the office. She even took on training staff at other schools to help them get their new systems in place. But, during her years in the office, she never gave up on helping students. She always had an open ear for the kids who came in needing help. Although she wasn’t a proud person, Carolyn was gratified with the positive impact she made on the hundreds of schoolkids she worked with over the years.

In addition to her career work, Carolyn worked several summers for the Census Bureau collecting data from the back roads of Bethany. Here she learned the realities of abject poverty, and instilled in her daughters the knowledge that there is always someone in more need than you. During school breaks, Carolyn would pile Barbara and Melissa in the car and they would visit needy rural families, passing along their outgrown clothing, and delivering food at holidays. In addition to championing equal rights in the 1970’s, she was a huge Animal Rights advocate and spent years as a volunteer for various Animal Rescue organizations. She fostered and adopted many cats and dogs over the years, and always kept handy bags of cat and dog food in her car for those times she’d spot a stray-in-need along the road. In this capacity, Carolyn was always on call to help rescue pets at all hours, day or night, and she performed some pretty daring and perilous acts in her efforts to help animals. During retirement, she put in work as a volunteer for the Board of Elections, and the Democratic Party, conducting canvassing calls to remind people to vote, and of the importance of having their voices heard. She was an early advocate for equal rights, and she and Melissa became certified literacy volunteers when Melissa was a teen.

Carolyn was stubborn, independent and had a gift for sarcasm. She was modest, and never strived for attention. In fact, she shied away from the camera and any public spotlight, preferring to have a few close friends. She particularly valued her enduring friendships with compatriots, Gayle & Larry Smith, and her sister-in-law Shirley Pierce – cherishing their many shopping and dining adventures. She was quite close with her in-laws, Hazel and Jim Hurley [deceased] and treasured their shared visits to CJ and Barbara, their drives to the NC mountains together, and many Pierce-Hurley family holidays spent together.

As the big “Sis”, Carolyn always had a watchful eye on her brothers. In middle age, after she was widowed, she was devoted to helping David raise his daughter, Vicky, and she loved putting her teacher experience to work with her beloved niece. She was proud of Larry for following his heart and becoming a preacher later in life. And in her later years, when she had limited mobility and wasn’t able to get out to visit as much, she took every opportunity to have friendly political debates with both brothers. She had fond memories of time spent in young adulthood with her sister-in-law Peggy.

Carolyn was a strict mom and she set high expectations for her girls. She would always go above and beyond for them, often compromising her own needs and comfort. Her stubborn personality would frequently come through when she was determined to do what was best for them. Melissa recalls an experience that epitomized Carolyn’s stubborn determination, love and devotion: In the early 80’s, while driving in the rain to the circus in Greensboro, the windshield wipers stopped working. Instead of giving in and turning around, Carolyn hung out the window to manually move the wipers while Hoke drove. They successfully made it to the circus, which was half over, and the staff let them in for free. Nobody remembers if it was still raining on the way home.

As devoted as she was to her kids, the person who became most important to Carolyn was her grandson, Micah. Nana coveted their sleepovers, doing school projects together, playing games on the computer, making up their own games, and conducting numerous scientific experiments, sometimes with explosions. They were quite the mischievous team in Micah’s preteen years.

Her relationships with family and a few friends were particularly important to a woman who much more preferred the company of animals over people. But, that said, Carolyn was always down for a good session of “coffee talk” with her son-in-law, CJ, who she loved dearly from almost the moment they met.

Carolyn is survived by: her beloved grandson, Micah Nguyen; her daughters, Melissa Nguyen, Barbara Pierce & her husband CJ Hurley; son-in-law, Dat Nguyen; brother, Larry Powers and his wife, Peggy; baby brother, David Powers and his wife, Sandra; niece, Victoria Powers, who she helped to raise for many years; great niece and nephew Katie and Noah Billings. Dear friends Gayle & Larry Smith, Hazel Hurley, and Shirley Pierce; numerous Pierce family sisters-in-law, brothers-in law, nieces and nephews; in-laws Loan, Dang and Huy Nguyen, her pets: dog-Rico, cat-Edith, and grand-dog Aki.

In keeping with Carolyn’s wishes, there will be no public viewing. The family will hold a memorial service for close family and friends at a later date.

The family would like to thank: Sherrilyn Dalton, NP and the team at Equity Health in Greensboro, NC; Angela Lewis for her exceptional caregiving the past year; Aging, Disability and Transit Services of Rockingham County; all of the home health practitioners who have helped over the years, notably Physical Therapist Mark and Cognitive Therapist Brittni; Curtis Sparks for being an incredibly kind and generous neighbor; Tracy and the team at Belmont pharmacy; the care team at Eden Health & Rehabilitation for their care the past 3 months, Doctor Hagan Pace, NP for her compassionate manner and care; and the ER & ICU care teams at UNC Morehead Hospital, Eden.

The family would love to hear from anyone who would like to share memories or stories. You can post them to the comments, email to barbara@cjhurley.com or postal mail to

Barbara Pierce

206 Seneca St.

Studio 22 D

Oil City, Pa 16301

To honor Carolyn’s memory, keep an eye out for stray and lost pets in your communities, and help them find their families. If you are looking for a pet, give a chance to the ones who have been at the shelters the longest [that’s what Carolyn would do].

Memorial donations in Carolyn’s name can be made to:

• Rockingham County Humane Society: 

Mail checks to 205 Boone Rd. 

Eden, NC 27288; 

in the memo line include "Memorial for Carolyn Pierce"

• Rockingham County Animal Shelter

• Martinsville Henry County SPCA

• The Reidsville, NC Public Library: Mail checks to 

204 W. Morehead Street. 

Reidsville, NC 27320

in the memo line include "Memorial for Carolyn Pierce". 

Cash donations can also be made in person.