PEARSON, William Marvin (Bill), age 85, died peacefully at home on January 28, 2010. Born November 21, 1924, to Marvin H. and Lena Collins Pearson in Montgomery, he is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 60 years, Gwendolyn Smith Pearson, children, Jimmy (Lou) Pearson, Jane (Arnie) Burris, Joel (Cathy) Pearson, and Jack Pearson. Bill is survived by six grandchildren, Philip (Ashley) Pearson, Price (Christina) Pearson, Jessie Burris, B. J. (Ashley) Burris, Nan Pearson, and Hartley Pearson, and four great-grandchildren, Mary Collins Pearson, Will Pearson, Catherine Pearson, and Calvin Pearson. He is survived by numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Bill was a lifelong member of Dexter Avenue United Methodist Church for which he designed its current steeple, and where he served as chair of the Administrative Board and Board of Trustees, was a member of the choir and Friendship Sunday School Class. He attended Cloverdale Jr. High, Sidney Lanier High, Huntingdon College and Auburn University.  Bill became a registered architect in 1952 and with partners, Charles E. Humphries and Renis O. Jones, Jr. founded Pearson, Humphries & Jones Architects, currently known as PH&J Architects Inc. Bill served as president of the Alabama Council of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Alabama Architectural Foundation and the Montgomery Chapter of AIA. Bill was awarded the Alabama Distinguished Architect Award by the Alabama Architectural Foundation in 2007.  He was also a former member of the Auburn University School of Architecture Advisory Council.  Living with an ostomy throughout his adult life, Bill had a long-standing interest in visiting and counseling patients undergoing ostomy surgery.  He was a member of the United Ostomy Association of America and served as president of the Montgomery Ostomy Association. He was a longtime member and former president of the Capital City Kiwanis Club in addition to serving as Lt Gov for the Alabama District of Kiwanis International.  He was former president of the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities and for the Seton Haven Retirement Home. Bill loved music, having played the clarinet and saxophone in high school at Lanier, with the Montgomery Symphony in its early years, and with the Montgomery Recreators for more than 20 years. Bill was an avid water and boating enthusiast, having spent countless enjoyable hours at the family retreat he built on Lake Martin in 1962.  In addition to his parents, Bill was preceded in death by his three siblings, Clyde Pearson, Ernestine Pearson and Nell Pearson Williford. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 2:30 from Dexter Avenue United Methodist Church with Bishop Paul Duffey, Rev. Dr.Lawson Bryan and Pastor Paul Gourdine officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Serving as pallbearers will be Philip Pearson, Price Pearson, B. J. Burris, Hartley Pearson, John Atkins, Chuck Atkins, and Pat Atkins.  A private interment for family members will follow in Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Alabama Architectural Foundation (961 Lake Circle, Hoover, Alabama 35244) or Dexter Avenue United Methodist Church, (301 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104).  Leak-Memory Chapel Directing  leak-mc.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Funeral Home: LEAK MEMORY
Publication Date: 01/30/2010