Nicholas Pier

1938 - 2025

Nicholas Pier
11/13/1938 - 08/23/2025
Nicholas Francis Pier passed away on August 23, 2025, aged 86, after a brief illness.
"Nick", as he was known to all, was born to Loraine and Nicholas Pier on November 13, 1938, in Racine, Wisconsin.
Nick earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee (where he once scored an outstanding 24 points in a single intramural basketball game). Thereafter, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), where he earned a Master of Science in mechanical engineering.
At Marquette, Nick met and married the love of his life, Dorothy. Nick and Dorothy were seldom apart for more than a day or two during the more than 65 years of their marriage. They raised three boys, David Nicholas Pier, Thomas Paul Pier, and Steven Joseph Pier.
Once settled In Southern California, Nick devoted himself to his family and his career in the nascent field of inertial navigation. At the height of the Cold War there were no computers and no GPS as we know of them today, and engineers like Nick could rely only on the slide-rule to make critical calculations to develop the gyroscopic navigation systems of the Minuteman Missile program. The guidance system that Nick helped develop proved to be a foundational element of America's successful deterrent force against the foreign threats of the time. Later in his career, Nick was central in the development of inertial guidance systems for F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft. Over the course of his career, the United States Patent Office awarded Nick four patents for design innovations that were critical to fully integrated inertial navigation systems. He proudly displayed his awards over his desk in his and Dorothy's retirement home in Los Osos, California.
Upon his retirement, Nick and Dorothy travelled extensively with the M.I.T. Alumni Travel Program. When not travelling, Nick devoted himself to the gardens of his and Dorothy's 2.5 acre home in Los Osos, CA. He took understandable pride in the verdant paradise he created and nurtured.
Based on his experience as a youth, Nick (and Dorothy) instilled in their sons the value of education and supported them throughout their journeys. It was a great source of pride to him that their three sons cumulatively obtained degrees from M.I.T. (Nick's alma mater), Stanford, Brown, Columbia, U.C.L.A. Business, University of Texas Austin, Carleton College, University of San Francisco Law, and Tulane Law.
Nick is survived by his wife Dorothy Ann Pier, his sons, David, Thomas and Steven; his nieces Susan and Carol; his daughters of marriage, Michela Alioto-Pier and Patricia Segoviano de Pier; his grandchildren Nicholas Joseph Alioto-Pier, Michela Giovanna Alioto-Pier, Valentina Paloma Alioto-Pier, Dara Najera Tabibian and Willma Garcia.