Rodney "Rod" and Frances "Fran" Pierce

Rodney “Rod” Alan Pierce and Frances “Fran” Denise (Dearing) Pierce, loving parents, have both passed away here in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Rod was born in Dallas, Texas, on January 4, 1950, and passed away on Tuesday, December 23, 2025. Fran was born in Toledo, Ohio, on October 20, 1949, and passed away on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Rod passed away from chronic kidney disease and cancer, while Fran passed away from on-set early dementia and COPD. Fran was cremated, and her ashes will be included in Rod’s casket, where they will be laid to rest together.

Rod grew up in a family with one brother. Both brothers served their country: Eddie joined the Navy, while Rod joined the Army. After the Vietnam War, both brothers entered law enforcement. Eddie followed in his father’s footsteps, working for and retiring from the El Paso Police Department. Rod worked and retired from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Fran grew up in a family with one brother and two stepbrothers. She was the daughter of an Army Colonel Veteran. As an Army brat, she traveled around the country/world with her family to wherever her dad was stationed. Growing up, she loved roller skating. While growing up, she worked for Gunning Casteel Inc. in downtown El Paso. She also enrolled in beauty school to be a beautician. Eventually, she became a domestic engineer and later in life managed a dry-cleaning business in Anthony, Texas, across from Danny’s Drug Store, before moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Rod and Fran were high school sweethearts from Irvin High School in El Paso, Texas. They were together for over 60 years, having been married just short of 53 years. They married on July 30, 1971, in Sögel, Germany, and had an official German wedding while being stationed there because of the Army.

Rod enlisted in the US Army right out of high school in 1969. He was an E6 Army soldier who served in the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1974. He did radio repair, crypto repair, and COMSEC Accounting, and graduated from the NCO Academy in 1974. While in the Army, he received the following decoration medals: Vietnam Service Medal w/3 Bronze Service Stars; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Good Conduct Medal; Expert (Rifle); and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry w/Palm.

After Rod was honorably discharged from the US Army, he began a long 30-year career with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in 1975 at La Tuna Federal Prison in Anthony, Texas. He worked as a correctional supervisor and lieutenant at various prisons. We transferred around to Big Spring, Texas; Texarkana, Texas; El Reno, Oklahoma; then finally back to La Tuna in 1984. His job duties included transporting inmates by Bureau Bus or by air to Institutions and Jails. He was also involved in transporting inmates participating in the Witness Security Program. He assisted in preparing Institutions for ACA – Accreditation/Re-Accreditation. During his time at La Tuna, he was known as LT or The Terminator. Finally, he served as La Tuna’s Special Investigative Supervisor (SIS) until his retirement in December 1999.

While Rod was busy working for the BOP, Fran was a stay-at-home domestic engineer taking care of their only child, daughter, Kymberly, aka Kym. Fran was always involved with Kym’s schooling. From preschool to junior high, Fran was Kym’s homeroom mother. She was always volunteering to help out with classroom parties, chaperoning classroom field trips, and much, much more. Her favorite hobby as a homeroom mother was decorating and baking. She always enjoyed baking her delicious and beautifully decorated holiday cupcakes for the kids. She also enjoyed making her famous caramel popcorn, pumpkin bread, and her pecan thumbprint cookies.

Another joyous activity Rod and Fran did was bowling. Back around the early to mid-1980s, La Tuna had their own bowling league. Rod and Fran were on a bowling team called the “No Names.” They were fantastic bowlers and every Friday night they would bowl, eventually winning the bowling tournaments. This would inspire Kym to also become a bowler in her younger years. She, too, was in a bowling league every Saturday morning and was on a team called “The Chipmunks.” They would also win bowling tournaments.

After retiring from La Tuna in 1999 and driving Fran crazy for a year, he decided he wanted to go back to work for a short time and found a security computer assistant position with an Army contractor, Unitec, at White Sands Missile Range. For Unitec, he assisted with the coordination, implementation, and maintenance of a physical security program for TRAC-WSMR/TRADOC. He was with them from March 2001 to September 2002.

In October 2002, he began working for Advanced Systems Technology, Inc. (AST) as their Facility Security Officer (FSO). Here, he established an AST security office at TRAC-WSMR. Because of his hard work and receiving five Defense Security Service (DSS) review ratings of satisfactory, commendable, superior, superior, and superior, he received the James S. Cogswell Award in June 2007. The Cogswell Award is the most prestigious honor the Defense Counterintelligence and Security (DCSA) can bestow to cleared industry. Of the more than 13,000 cleared contractors in the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), less than 1% are annually selected to receive this award. In June 2007, AST lost its contract, and ALATEC, Inc. took over. Rod continued serving as their Facility Security Specialist, functioning as a liaison between ALATEC-WSMR Security and the Government Security Manager, from June 2007 to July 2008.

In July 2008, Rod began working for another Army Contractor, NewTec, as a Security Specialist, establishing a security office for the White Sands Common Control Node until April 2010. Then, in April 2010, he became the main Security Specialist Manager at NewTec, LLC, until January 2012, when NewTec changed its name to TRAX International, LLC. Finally, after 13 years and 5 Army contractors later, he decided to hang up his security hat and retired in July 2013.

Before Rod retired from La Tuna, Rod, Fran, and Kym moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where they would call this home. This allowed the family to take advantage of in-state tuition for Kym to attend New Mexico State University and to enjoy Elephant Butte National State Park and other New Mexico parks, where they all camped, fished, and boated.

Rod was preceded in death by his parents, Clifton “Cliff” and Clara Pierce. Fran was preceded in death by her parents, Betty Dearing and David P. Dearing. Rod is survived by his brother, Clifton Edward “Eddie” Jr., his wife, Linda, and his daughter, Laura. Fran is survived by her stepbrother, Arthur Dearing, and his wife, and by her brother, Barry Dearing, and his wife. Finally, Rod and Fran are survived by their only daughter, Kymberly Dawn Pierce (Pierce-Hapke), and son-in-law Richard “Brake” Hapke.

Memorial services and Visitation services will be held on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM at Getz Funeral Home, 1410 E. Bowman Avenue, Las Cruces, NM 88001.(575) 526-2419. A Graveside Service will be held Thursday, January 8, 2026, at 2:00 PM at Fort Bliss National Cemetery with Military Honors.

Rod and Fran, Mom and Dad will be forever loved, missed, and never forgotten.

A special, huge thank you goes out to Dr. William T. Baker and Dr. Angelica Caglia for always taking care of my parents when they needed medical help. Also, thank you to Mesilla Valley Hospice & Palliative Care for taking such wonderful care of my parents toward the end of their lives.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Rod and Fran Pierce, please visit Getz’s flower store.