Alvy Carroll Pierson passed away May 4, 2021 at the age of 80. Carroll was born on January 24, 1941 in Elkhart, Anderson County, Texas to Alvy Cason Pierson and Myrtle Eva Salmon Pierson. He had been a resident of McKinney, Texas since 1961.
Alvy Cason Pierson, a widower with seven children, married Myrtle Salmon in 1931. Together they had Lillian Pierson Elmore, Charles Pierson, Wayne Pierson and Carroll Pierson. He was preceded in death by Lillian and Charles, three half-brothers and four half-sisters. Wayne Pierson of Houston, Texas is his only surviving sibling. Carroll and Wayne were very close. The day before Carroll became ill, Wayne called to pull an April Fool joke on Carroll. Carroll spoiled his joke by saying “April Fool” before Wayne finished.
He married Marie Coleman in Elkhart, Texas on April 29, 1961. Together they had Randy (1964) and Kyle (1967). Carroll and Marie celebrated their 60th anniversary six days before his death.
Carroll graduated from Elkhart High School in 1960. He graduated from Tyler Barber College in Tyler, Texas. After passing the Texas State Barber exam he was certified to begin his life long career. His first job was in Oakwood, Texas. In January, 1961 Marie moved to Prosper, Texas to live with her aunt, Beulah Massie, to seek work in the Dallas area. In February, 1961 Carroll moved to McKinney. He worked at the Basement Barber Shop for 2 months before going to work at Pope’s Barber Shop. In 1965, at the age of 24, Carroll bought The Palace Barber Shop. He retired in 2007. He cared for and respected his customers as if they were family. He never asked anyone to let him cut their hair. He believed if they wanted him to cut their hair they would get in his chair.
Carroll was a member of Farmersville church of Christ in Farmersville, Texas. He loved God and strove to follow Christ’s teachings in Mark 12:30, 31 “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And there is no other commandment greater than these.” Carroll had a deep faith in God and the power of prayer. He prayed daily for the sick and elderly. His father was 50 years old when Carroll was born and was sick until his death in 1961. Carroll was 20 when he lost his father. This had a lasting impact on Carroll and his care for the sick and elderly.
Carroll enjoyed country music, hunting, fishing, taking care of his lawn, Randy’s and Kyle’s farm, growing a garden, Dallas Cowboys and being a good neighbor. He grew up on a farm and farm work was the only work available. At the end of the work week, he took his pay home to his dad.
Carroll loved Marie’s family. He thought her mother was it. She felt the same for him. He showed his love to her. One night during a weekend visit he went into her bedroom and put $100 on her pillow and covered it with the bedspread. He didn’t tell anyone. But she knew it was Carroll. Her sister, Dorothy, invited him to her home for the Dallas Cowboy games that were “blacked out” because she knew he hated to miss a game. He loved to be with them and they loved him in return. They are deeply sad at his passing.
His family never owned a car. His sister made sure her car was available every Saturday night for his dates with Marie. Perhaps that instilled his desire to travel. Most of the sixty years of marriage the family took a vacation. They set a goal to vacation in all of the fifty (50) states and that goal was reached in 2014.
Carroll said he had four fathers: His heavenly father, his biological father, his father, Bruce Luster, and his father, Hulan (Fat) Rutledge. Bruce cleaned the barber shop in exchange for the rent on his shine chair. Bruce started work at the Palace when he was a young man. He acquired a knowledge of how a barber shop was run and of the customers. He took a 24-year-old under his wing and taught him the ways of the barber shop and how to deal with people. Hulan Rutledge and his wife Ola Mae adopted our sons, Randy and Kyle as their grandsons. Carroll’s love for Hulan and Ola Mae could not have been deeper. Hulan was widowed in 1998. After Carroll’s retirement in 2007 he took care of Hulan. Every Friday evening, he picked him up and went to town to meet Marie for dinner. He made sure Hulan was taken care of so he could stay in his home.
A letter from a neighbor described Carroll as “a special man”. He was a special man, husband, and father to his family and to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His steadfast love of the Lord never wavered.