Obituary: George Pierson

Legendary Philadelphia area sound man, George W. Pierson lost his decade long battle with heart disease on Nov. 22, 2016, with Cindy, Falkor and Fergus at his side. He was 64.

He is survived by Cindy, his wife and partner for more than 34 years, his children – Jason Pierson (Allison) of Collingswood, NJ, and Liz Wiener (Rob) of Munising, Michigan, his mother Ethel Pierson of Lindenwold, NJ, his sister Deborah Imperatore (Joe) of Port St. Lucie, Florida, many nieces and nephews, and many friends he considered family, among them James, Chas, Joe, Brian, Steve, Gig and more too numerous to name. He was predeceased by his father, George “Buck” Pierson and his brother, Garry Pierson.

Since he decided on New Year’s 1970 to try to make a living in the music business, working with local band “Adom,” his career has taken many twists and turns – here are some highlights.

After touring with Adom, he joined the crew at Cina-Sound, working with bands like John Eddie, the A’s, Robert Hazard, and the Hooters at the beginning of their careers.

A Cini-Sound gig led him to NYC, to become the sound engineer and production manager for Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics.

After numerous US tours, a tour through Europe and even an appearance in the video of “The Damned,” and meeting his future wife, he came off the road. After another stint at Cina-Sound and some freelance work, he became the monitor engineer at the Ripley Music Hall on South Street in Philadelphia.

That led to work with East Coast Concerts, where he worked on the house crew for many national acts at the Philadelphia Zoo, the Spectrum and Vet Stadium, stage managed at the Trocadero, even working on the stage crew at Live Aid in 1985, as well as still free lancing and doing shows for local bands.

When the Empire Rock Room in NE Philadelphia needed a stage manager and engineer, George answered the call. His work with hundreds of bands there, national acts and local, and doing the live broadcasts on WMMR with Joe Bonadona and Lyn Kratz is where his reputation began to really grow.

When the Empire closed, he returned to freelancing with his own company, Pierco Productions, the most visible shows being before the Eagles games in the years before the Vet was torn down.

Then fate stepped in when he did the installation of the sound system at the Tin Angel in Olde City Philadelphia. The day after it opened, he was hired as the stage manager and audio engineer.

In his nearly 17 years behind the board at the Tin Angel, he did thousands of shows, many of which were recorded and later released by the artists.

Many of the acts he worked with became good friends over the years – Kenn Kweder, Richard Bush, Michael Tearson, John Eddie, Jim Fogerty, Michael Vogelman and many, many others.

Anyone who knew him will remember him for his easy going nature, his ability to work with any artist (except for one or two – Francis!) and how he could make anyone laugh. He will be truly missed, and always in our hearts.

The family would like to express their gratitude to hospice nurse Michelle Walker and the VNA of Central Jersey, Dr. Ross Zimmer, Nurse Sandi Solomon and Dr. Samir Shah, and Tom Weber of Weber Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the George Pierson Heart Fund to establish the George Pierson Memorial Award for Technical Achievement.

Condolences care of Weber Funeral Home at www.weberfuneralhomeinc.com

Visitation is Sunday, December 4, at 1 p.m., with a brief memorial service at 2 p.m. at Weber's, 112 Broad Street, Riverton, NJ 08077.