Rodney Alan Pearce

Rodney Alan Pearce passed away at home on May 17, 2025, due to complication of old age. He was born on August 15, 1938, to John (Jack) D. L. Pearce and Edith Bingham Pearce in Cornish, Utah. He spent his youth swimming in the West Cache Canal, working on the family dairy farm and playing in the river bottoms along the Bear River. His family moved from Cornish to Lewiston when he was 12 years old when his father went to work with Gossner Cheese. During the summers, while in high school, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service during the construction of Palisades Reservoir. He also worked at Jackon Lake Lodge doing odd jobs. He also worked with his dad delivering milk to grocery stores in the western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho area.

After graduating from North Cache High School in 1956, he attended college in Grand Junction, Colorado, for a semester on a football scholarship and then decided to join the Army. During his year in the Army, he was assigned to the ABC Corps at Fort Ord, California. While there, he was assigned duties of monitoring and collecting information during various atom bomb and chemical weapon tests.

After completing his service in the Army, he joined his family in Denver, Colorado where his family had moved after his father took a job with Rocky Mountain Dairy. He opened a small grocery store in the neighborhood. After the store was robbed twice at gunpoint, he decided it was time to sell the store and move back to Preston, Idaho. It was during this time that he met Nancy Brown at the Famous Preston Night Rodeo. They later married in the Logan, Utah, Temple on March 17, 1961.

They began their new life together in Preston, Idaho. Over the next 6 years, they had three children, sons Michael and Alan and daughter Leslie. He worked at Thiokol making parts for Minute Man missiles. He later joined his dad once again selling milk and in 1967 he took over the Franklin County part of the delivery business. For the next 15 years, he continued delivering milk and ice cream products in the county. He greatly enjoyed talking with the customers he would meet in the stores. In 1982, he decided to transition from the delivery side of dairy business to the production side and started a dairy farm. He continued the dairy farm until he retired.

During his life he enjoyed many hobbies and activities. During the1970’s, he was active on the Famous Preston Night Rodeo board and was the parade chairman for number of years. He enjoyed horses, raising Arabians and riding with the Boots and Saddle Club. He enjoyed skiing, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. One of his favorite activities was spending time with his “fishing buddies” on the Salmon River fishing for steelhead trout and salmon. He was president of the Franklin County Fish and Game Association. During this time, he and others worked with the State Fish and Game Department improving access and maintaining the Oneida Narrows Bear River fishery.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Edith Pearce, his brothers Gary Pearce and Reid Pearce and his son Alan Pearce. He is survived by his wife Nancy Pearce, his son Michael (Sue Ann) Pearce, his daughter Leslie (David) Teuscher, many grandkids and great grandkids and his sister Linda (James) Palmer along with many beloved nephews and nieces.

A memorial service will be held at Webb Funeral Home, 1005 South 800 East, Preston, Idaho on May, 31, 2025. A family visitation will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The memorial service will start at 1:00 p.m. Rod wished to be cremated and requested that his ashes be spread in the mountains that he loved. A memorial headstone will be placed in the Preston City Cemetery. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at webbmortuary.com

In lieu of flowers, please donate online to the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust @ sagebrushlandtrust.org or by mailing a check to: 

Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust - PO Box 1404 - Pocatello, ID. 83204

Services will be streamed live and can be viewed on Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 1:00 pm MDST by clicking on the following link:

https://youtube.com/live/cwuNENgxkaQ?feature=share