Beulah B. Peirce, 93, of Barrington, a retired teacher, principal and longtime volunteer who was inducted into the Barrington Area Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in 1999 for community service, died Monday, Feb. 5, in her home. She was a longtime volunteer for Meals on Wheels and Citizens for Conservation in Barrington. When Barrington United Methodist Church burned down two years ago, Mrs. Peirce answered telephones for the church. “For years she drove friends and neighbors to church,” said Sallie Gill, an office assistant at the church who knew Mrs. Peirce for more than 10 years. “Even in her 90s, she would bring in a tin of cookies for the homeless whenever we asked for help.” A resident of Barrington since 1931, Mrs. Peirce started teaching at Hough Elementary School in Barrington after graduating from Iowa State Teachers College. She taught 4th grade at Hough School while completing a bachelor’s degree in teaching at the University of Chicago in 1936. She taught until 1941, when she married and took time off to raise her family. During that time, she worked as a substitute teacher. In 1956, she taught full time at Cary Grove Elementary School in Cary, and was principal of the school from 1962 to 1968. “She never stopped learning,” said her son, George, who added that when his mother was a teacher, she would bring her students artifacts she collected from her travels. “She liked to use things that kids could relate to.” In the early 1980s, she served on the Volunteer Callers Committee for Citizens for Conservation in Barrington, which required her to find restoration volunteers. Other survivors include a sister, Lyda Ball; and two step-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in Presbyterian Church of Barrington, 6 S. Brinker Rd., Barrington.
