Ronald "Toby" Pierce

Although Ronald “Toby” Pierce was born Thanksgiving Day of 1937 in Wahpeton, that didn’t stop him from making fun of anyone and anything from North Dakota, for the remainder of his life.  And though he often visited cousins in Wisconsin, if you were from there that also required a smart crack on his part.  Iowa, same deal. That’s right, he spent over 70 years of his life in God’s country, and you would be a fool to argue it. Wadena was the best community anywhere, and that’s who Toby was.  It's not that he needed a lot of material.  It usually took him all of five seconds to come up with a wisecrack.  His brother Craig called him “king of the insult”.

“Ronnie,” as he was then known, spent his formative years in St Paul. As a city kid he loved visiting grandparents in Wahpeton, especially in summer. Raised by a single mom until age 11, he often recalled waiting in lines with his mother’s ration coupons during the war. It wasn’t easy for them but his determined mother made a go of it. Then Evelyn met Sam Pierce at the St Paul winter carnival, and the rest, as they say, is history.  

For a few years they were in Renville, MN where Sam worked in a program aiding other returning veterans in farming. When his parents went to enroll him at Renville Junior High, they entered with Ronnie but exited with Toby. Someone in the schoolyard had renamed him, and it really stuck.  

Sam had grown up in Wadena and wanted to try his hand at dairy farming.

So the city kid got plopped down as the number one hand on the family farm and boy, was that an eye-opener. Though he never explained it, one could surmise that the wisecrack that appeared next to his Wadena High School class of 1955 yearbook was inspired by this sudden change in lifestyle:

“I love work. It is so very fascinating to me. I could sit and watch it all day.”

Ha! This from the hardest-working guy we ever knew!

In one particular way Dad, and not Lou Gehrig, was the luckiest man alive.

You see, he was married for 55 years to the most lovely woman and best mother ever. On February 1, 1957, he was united in marriage to Astrid “Jeanette” Benson. Two weeks later, Uncle Sam took over and Toby had another adjustment to make. Stationed at Fort Eustis Virginia, he honorably served his country until February 1959. With one baby in tow and one on the way, they returned to Wadena and began Pierce Insurance Agency. 

Toby was an incredibly active community member. He sat on the Wadena City Council, the Rising Phoenix Board, Park Board, and the Wadena HRA board.  

He was a member of the Jaycees, Lions, and Elks. He also refereed many basketball games. Due to his competitive nature, playing sports gave him great joy. In his younger days he sponsored teams in softball and basketball. We remember him playing broom hockey and volleyball. Later on, it was racquetball. It seemed he was always the oldest out there on the softball field, but he loved every minute. He began playing golf in his thirties and loved that too (usually).

In the 1980’s, Toby, along with other youth hockey parents, decided to raise funds for an indoor hockey rink. Their efforts created the Wadena Community Center, which was built, maintained, and ran without using taxpayer dollars. Toby was the volunteer manager of the Center for about a year. He also inspired the idea of a sliding hill when a construction company had an excess of dirt. Toby’s Hill has been used by children to slide down in the winter months for 27 years. Later on in life, because he couldn’t sit still and wanted to contribute, he trimmed trees for WDC schools, M State, the City of Wadena, and many residents.   

After Jeanette passed, he was set up on a date by his daughter Beth and her friend Tammy with Tammy’s mother. Thus began a deep friendship with Shirley Uselman.  

Five months ago, the night before election day, Toby had a heart attack. Not only did that incident alter the course of his life, it also meant that for the first time since Eisenhower he didn’t vote. That didn’t sit well.

On April 16, Toby passed away at Lakewood Care Center in Staples. With every conversation he’d say, “they’re taking really good care of me here”, and they did. There should be a special place in heaven for care home workers, especially those at Lakewood.

Toby is preceded in death by his parents Sam and Evelyn; wife: Jeanette Pierce; daughters: Beth Curtis and Erin Pierce; brother, Craig Pierce; grandson: Lance Pierce; nephews: Matthew West, Doug Benson and Jon Benson; special friend Shirley Uselman.  

Surviving Toby are his daughter Lynn Pierce (Bernie Frey); sons Mark (Vicki) Pierce and Eric (Nancy) Pierce; son-in-law Randy Curtis; 10 grandchildren: Ryan Pierce, Tara (John) St Martin, Colton (Becky) Borg, Kelsie Pierce, Hannah Frey, Cameron Frey, Myles Curtis, Toby (Jenna) Curtis, Jessica Pierce and Lexi Pierce; 15 great-grandchildren; sister Deb (Jerry) West; brother Bruce (Sherry) Pierce; brother-in-law Ken (Pat) Benson; many other relatives and a host of friends.

Visitation will be held for Toby on Friday, May 2, 2025, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Karvonen Funeral Home in Wadena, Minnesota.  Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at Karvonen Funeral Home.  Visitation will resume one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.  Toby will be laid to rest at the Wadena Cemetery, Wadena, Minnesota.  In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Wadena Historical Society.

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