Campus mourns death of disabled persons advocate
Larry Pierce is remembered as a thoughtful friend
By Jennifer K. Morita
Daily Bruin Staff
Larry Pierce, an advocate for disabled persons who worked to
increase wheelchair access to the campus, died Wednesday morning
from a cardiac arrest at the UCLA Emergency Room.
Pierce, 46, a UCLA staff member who worked in the office
responsible for ensuring UCLA’s compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act, was on a bus going to work and, according to
witnesses, appeared to be asleep.
When people on the bus tried to rouse him, they discovered he
wasn’t breathing, and called for help around 8 a.m. Pierce was
taken to the emergency room where he later died.
"It’s a sad day for UCLA," said Pierce’s friend and boss, Doug
Martin. "He was so devoted to his work whatever the job here was.
He loved UCLA and he loved to be on campus, even on weekends you’d
see him."
UCLA Director of Student Programming Berky Nelson said he
remembered Pierce as always being upbeat and positive.
"Larry is the one person in my life who if you were to carve out
a perfect human being he’d be the one," Nelson said.
A UCLA student during the late 1960s who worked for the
university right after graduating with an economics degree, Pierce
devoted most of his adult life to UCLA.
"He was proud of his accomplishment of improving access for
faculty, staff and students with disabilities," said Pierce’s
colleague Nancy Lumsden. "He should be remembered for what he did
for the campus to make it an easier place for people like him."
Having suffered from the degenerative neuromuscular disease,
muscular dystrophy, Pierce had to use a wheelchair. Those who knew
Pierce remember seeing him riding all over campus in his
wheelchair.
"Everyone seems to have a Larry Pierce story," Lumsden said. "If
they didn’t know his name, they knew who he was because he was
everywhere. They knew him as the man in the wheelchair."
Lack of transportation and bad weather never stopped Pierce from
coming to campus, friends say. Pierce was known for riding in his
wheelchair from his home in Santa Monica to UCLA.
He was also an avid Bruin basketball fan.
"Bruin basketball was his passion in life," Nelson said. "It was
his dream to see the team win the NCAA Championship."
Colleagues called Pierce the "shadow coach" because he kept such
close track of the men’s basketball team.
"He was our No. 1 fan and supporter of the UCLA basketball
team," Martin said. "He predicted the recent win. It was probably
one of the happiest moments in his life."
Nelson said he remembers seeing Pierce at the basketball dinner
after the NCAA Championship victory.
"He was resplendent," Nelson said.
About four or five years ago Pierce began attending the men’s
basketball practices, according to Associate Athletic Director for
Business Steve Salm.
"He got really attached to the team, and the team got attached
to him," Salm said. "I could tell it made him really happy."
Combining his work with his passion for Bruin basketball, Pierce
worked to improve disabled access to Pauley Pavilion.
"He was involved in plans that we now have for an improvement in
Pauley Pavilion, a place he knew very well because of his interest
in basketball," Martin said. "He spent all his spare time
there."
Pierce was also just a neat person, Lumsden said.
"He was a nice, genuinely decent, honorable man. He was just
fun. He was a remarkable individual who never let what to some
would be a devastating illness get him down," Lumsden said.
"It’s hard for me to put into language how much Larry meant to
me," Nelson said. "People who know him could only derive strength
from his character."
Salm recalls fitting Pierce’s wheelchair in his 1973 Datsun,
when he gave Pierce rides home.
"He was a really warm, really bright guy who dealt with physical
challenges better than any person I ever met. It’s like it wasn’t
an issue with him," Salm said.
Those who knew Pierce said they will always remember him.
"I’ll spend the rest of my life telling people that no matter
what their problems are they need to stay strong and persevere,"
Nelson said. "I was taught this by Larry Pierce."
Pierce is survived by his mother and two brothers. Arrangements
have been made for a campus memorial service on Wednesday, May 3,
at noon in Pauley Pavilion.