William G. Pearcy

1929 - 2025

William G. Pearcy

October 14, 1929 - November 22, 2025

I was born in Evanston, Ill., during the Great Depression. My parents, Noah Clyde and Minnie Louise (Barth) Pearcy, raised me in Park Ridge, a middle class suburb near Chicago. My father lost his job. Fuel, food and luxuries were scarce. Maybe that's why I became "parsimonious Pearcy," as friends later called me.

I was a shy kid. My love of nature and the great outdoors was kindled by summers on my grandfather's farm in southern Indiana. There I roamed the woods and streams and collected butterflies. After graduating from Main Township HS, I attended Iowa State College, where I received BS and MS degrees in Biology and was a member of Acacia Fraternity. I completed research on the limnology of Clear Lake, one of Iowa's few lakes.

With new knowledge of fresh water, I decided to study the Pacific Ocean at the University of Hawaii, but after a year I enlisted in the Navy at Pearl Harbor and eventually became an Air Intelligence Officer (1953-1956), briefing pilots regarding secret missions during the Cold War. During two aircraft carrier tours, I visited almost all the countries in the Mediterranean.

After discharge from the Navy, I cruised the Bahamas on a 40-ft ketch for six months. I married Nancy Wilson, my college girlfriend, and completed my PhD at Yale University with a thesis on early ecology of winter flounder in the Mystic River estuary, Connecticut.

After only a phone interview in 1960, I became one of the five founding members of the new Department of Oceanography at Oregon State College (now OSU). I researched and taught about swimmers of the sea (fishes, squids, shrimps) for over 40 years. I conducted some of the first research on the ocean ecology of Pacific salmon. I enjoyed wonderful sabbaticals in Japan, Chile, Miami, La Jolla and Norway, and research cruises on Japanese research vessels studying food habits of salmon. I published more than 150 scientific papers, wrote a book on the Ocean Ecology of North Pacific Salmonids, and advised 40 Master's and PhD students. Accolades included awards from the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists, the North Pacific Marine Science Organization, and others.

Nancy and I had three children, Lisanne, Mark and Karla - all nearly perfect and all different. Nancy was a fine mother. We enjoyed many family camping trips around the West, including driving the partially paved Alaska Highway in our station wagon. I spent my non-working hours outdoors as much as possible - fishing, hunting and hiking.

After retiring and getting divorced, I married Amy Schoener, a fellow scientist and soul mate. We began a life of adventure, sea kayaking, birding trips, camping and volunteering. Amy and I bought a 60-acre farm near Philomath, Ore., where she raised sheep and I tended our fruit trees for many years. Some of our acreage was designated a permanent conservation easement. When Amy died in 2016, I continued to live on the farm with my faithful dogs, a big garden, honey bees, and a few steers, selling fruit until my death.

My siblings Don and Marilyn are deceased. My brother, David (TX) survives me, along with my children, Lisanne Pearcy (Dallas, OR), Mark Pearcy (Burlingame, Calif.) and Karla Pearcy-Marston (Portland, Ore.), as well as my three granddaughters, Marian Pearcy (CA), Susanna Pearcy Schaeffer (WA) and Athene Marston (OR).

It has been a grand ride - thanks to my fate and fortune, and especially love amongst my many good friends and family. My deepest gratitude to all. I will have a green burial in the Wren cemetery and transition to new life under a big oak tree. A celebration of my life will be held at a future date. Memorial donations may be made to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Audubon Society or Oregon Food Bank.