Retired Army Col. Eugene S. Bierer, 84, of Pinehurst, passed away Friday, March 18, 2011, at home, with his loving wife and children by his side.
No local services are planned.
A private service, with military honors, will be held at the Old Cadet Chapel, U.S. Military Academy, West Point.
After graduating Phillips Andover Academy, Gene immediately volunteered for the Navy and attended the NROTC program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a serving volunteer “sole surviving son,” he was awarded a principal’s appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. Gene graduated from West Point in 1948 and served in the armed forces in Germany until 1952, then stateside until 1956. Afterward, he served in the active reserves until retiring from the military in 1974.
During that time, Gene earned a Master of Science degree in industrial management from Stevens Institute of Technology, as well as completed the Army’s Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.
Gene’s civilian career in New York included positions of responsibility in product development, marketing and manufacturing of steel- and aluminum- coated products. He went on to own and operate a successful manufacturing company in Vermont until retiring in 1981.
Competitive sports were a highly valued part of Gene’s life. Baseball topped the list, beginning with stickball in the streets of Brooklyn with his brother, Donald, who was later signed by the New York Giants before enlisting in the Army Air Corps at the start of World War II. At Andover, Gene took the place of President George H.W. Bush at first base, played against Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers while at West Point, and later pitched against President Bush at Yale University. Gene was player-manager of the Nuremberg Tigers baseball team in the European Major Leagues and, in one year, led the league’s batting average.
Gene participated in track at both Andover and West Point, won the collegiate four-wall handball championships at West Point in 1948, and also won many amateur tennis tournaments over the years, including the North Carolina Senior Doubles Championship in 1988.
As a longtime member of the Pinehurst Country Club, Gene also loved and played much golf. Those were all memories he cherished and often looked back on.
In 1993, Gene organized the all-volunteer Pinehurst Community Watch, which averaged 300 active members. He chaired this effort until 2005. In response to President Bush’s request after 9/11 for rapid expansion of neighborhood watch programs across the country, Gene created the National Network of Community Watch (NNCW). After years of planning and evaluation by federal agencies in Washington, D.C., Gene was invited to formally present his plan to the Homeland Security Council at the White House. NNCW was adopted by executive order in 2006 as part of President Bush’s published review, “Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned.”
Gene will be remembered for his devotion to family and friends, and his service to his country and community. Col. Bierer never veered from “the Long Gray Line,” and lived his life dedicated to the ethos “Duty, Honor, Country.” May he, beloved husband and father, at long last pitch one over the plate to brother Donald.
“And when our work is done,
Our course on Earth is run,
May it be said,
‘Well done.’ Be thou at peace.
Online condolences may be made at www.bolesfuneralhome.com.
Boles Funeral Home of Southern Pines is serving the family.