Edwin Gray Pierson Jr
Edwin Gray Pierson Jr., Jay, passed away July 1, 2020 in Houston, Texas. He was born on December 25, 1934 in Marlin. He was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin Gray Pierson, Sr. and Imogene Leach Pierson, as well as his brother, Robert Leach Pierson. He is survived by his daughters, Janet Pierson Morrow and Leslie Gay Pierson, his son, Jeffry Scott Pierson and his two grandchildren-Anastasia Morrow and Preston Morrow. He is also survived by his sister, Lynn Pierson Smith.
He graduated from Marlin High School in 1953 where he lettered in football, was editor of the Marlin High School year book and won first chair trombone in the All State Texas Band. In 1953 he was scholastically the highest ranking boy in the senior class and was chosen Best All Around Boy for scholarship and extra curricular activities. He received the American Legion Award for outstanding scholarship, leadership, and citizenship.
Edwin attended Texas A&M and as a freshman he was selected one of two freshmen to march with the band and was nominated president of his freshman class. He was designated a Distinguished Student while in the Corps of Cadets. Edwin graduated with honors with a BS degree in Civil Engineering and was honored as a member of three scholastic fraternities: Phi Eta Signa, Tau Beta Pi, and Phi Kappa Phi.
During his 37 year career with Exxon, he was involved in many phases of production and pipeline engineering, served as a reservoir engineer for four years, had a five year stint in gas plant and pipeline design and construction with Esso Libya. He was later was involved in organizing the corrosion mitigation and monitoring program for the Alyeska Pipeline system. In 1979, he was picked to audit Esso Petroleum's pipeline system in England and was editor of their corrosion manual. Pierson was active in numerous corrosion research projects sponsored by
the American Gas Association and served on the NACE committee that set new criteria for cathodic protection of pipelines. In 1961, he graduated from Exxon's Petroleum Engineering School with an equivalent degree in Petroleum Engineering.
In 1974 he received the Texas Junior Chamber of Commerce's Outstanding J.C. Award for developing a house numbering system for small towns in Texas. In 2001 and 2003, he receive awards for his service to the Sons of the Republic of Texas where he served as Assistant Treasurer and Treasurer under nine POPS presidents. In 2009, he received the POPS Distinguish Service Award.
His family will be forever grateful for the tremendous amount of research on Pierson genealogy which will be passed on from generation to generation. He was driven to do excellent work his entire life whether it be in school or his career with Exxon of 37 years. He was actively and carefully organizing his affairs until a few days before his death. Edwin was a man of many talents, of which he always made every effort to do his very best work. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.