Terry Allen Pierce
January 12, 1977 - December 10, 1993
About Terry
Terry Allen Pierce was born January 12, 1977 to Bonnie and Chris Pierce. Terry was a friendly, outgoing child right from the start. He was early at everything in life including walking and talking.
Terry’s confidence and natural ability helped him succeed both on and off the sports fields. He enjoyed competing in several sports year-round including track, baseball, football, and wrestling. His ability to think on his feet helped him to excel at all of this. He was also an excellent student, something most people did not realize about him.
Terry was very conscious of others and as a result, people gravitated to him. As a freshman, he even took a senior to prom. He was a well-loved 16-year-old enjoying life and looking forward to what the future would bring.
Crash Description
In the early evening of December 10, 1993, Terry phoned home to check in with his Mom, which he always did; he said: "Mom I'm at Maurice's; I've got Maurice and we are leaving to go to the coach's house." The distance they had to go was a mere six miles. They were to meet up with the rest of their team and spend the night at their Coach’s house so that they could get an early start the next morning for an all-day wrestling tournament in South Granville. Bonnie looks back now and realizes that when she hung up the phone that night, she did not know that she was hearing Terry call her, Mom, for the last time or how her life was about to change. Within minutes of hanging up the phone, Terry would cross paths with a drowsy driver behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer who, instead of passing by Terry on a gentle curve, would drive through the curve, cross into Terry’s lane and literally ran over the Honda Prelude he was driving. Both Terry and his friend and teammate, Maurice, were killed.
Life After the Crash
After the crash, the investigating Trooper told Bonnie and her husband, “we’ll never know what really happened; the truck driver claims your son crossed into his lane.” Bonnie’s relentless and tireless investigation ultimately proved that Terry was not at fault. The desire to prevent what happened to her and her family from happening to another family was the driving force that led to Bonnie’s decision to go to law school and she now represents and helps other families whose lives have been impacted by a truck crash.
Since Terry’s death, Bonnie has spent countless hours learning about the laws that govern the trucking industry in the United States. She has traveled to Washington, D.C. to testify before lawmakers on regulations that govern the hours of service, the need for tougher laws and stricter enforcement, as well as the need to keep rest areas open and other vital and important issues which she has strived to implement change.
Terry truly had an impact on all those that know him and he is so missed. Every year, around the anniversary of the crash, Bonnie, along with many family and friends, put a Christmas tree up at Terry’s grave. Each year, people bring an ornament, and each year, the tree grows.