Sherill Waters Pierce

Sherill "Sherri" Waters Pierce, 79, died of natural causes on June 9, 2021, in Cambridge, MA.

Sherill was born in Boston on May 12, 1942, the oldest of the five children to Franklin and Dorothea Pierce. In her early years, Sherill enjoyed visiting Boston Common to feed the pigeons and the squirrels outings that sparked a lifelong devotion to animals and nature.

While Sherill was attending high school in Somerville, MA, she underwent an unthinkable trauma: She was kidnapped. Though her captor was caught, the pain of that experience would remain with her for the rest of her life.

In her 20's Sherill worked for Jordan Marsh store in Boston, where she loved interacting with the customers. But within a few years, she tragically became enveloped by her trauma, developing schizophrenia and losing her ability to work.

Despite of her mental health challenges, Sherill managed to live a full life. She loved reading romance novels, cooking, watching movies, and binging on shows like "The Queen." She stayed active, too: exercising at the Healthworks Club in Cambridge, doing yoga, riding her bike, and even taking belly dancing classes.

Sherill held tight to the small circle of people who made up her world: her brother, Kimball; her friends, Emily, Sarah, and Ballard; and her dance instructor, Ramzieh. With them by her side, she enjoyed going to the zoo, the movies, and the circus, and dining at restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory, Margarita's, and Bertucci's

She and KImball took trips throughout New England, too; some of her favorite destinations were Concord, NH; Rockport, MA and the state of Maine. Sherill, however, always felt most at home in a park or in the woods: One of her most beloved spots was Mt. Auburn Cemetery, where she could often be found walking and birdwatching.

When she wasn't being haunted by the demons of her past, Sherill was outgoing and funny; a vivacious, chatty, fun-loving woman. She was moved by beauty, be it a finely woven scarf, a flower blooming through the sidewalk, a sparrow singing from a branch, or a shiny new construction like the Boston Seaport. She spent many days outside searching for such beauty for trees sprouting green buds in spring and golden leaves in fall capturing it with her eyes and her camera, and never letting it fail to touch her heart.

Sherill was predeceased by her parents, and her brothers Frank and Mikel Pierce. She is survived by her brother and devoted caregiver, Kimball Pierce (Diana). Im lieu of flowers, in-memoriam donations may be made to the ASPCA (aspca.org)

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