Manlius: -  Vernon H. Pierson, 77, of Sheffield, died early Wednesday morning at Perry Memorial Hospital in Princeton.

Funeral services will be Friday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Yorktown. Rev. Joyce Heintz will officate.  Burial will be in Yorktown Cemetery.  Visitation is Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the Howard Johnson Funeral Home in Manlius.  There will be a service prior to the service at the church.

A memorial has been established in his memory to the Yorktown or Manlius Lutheran Churches.

Mr. Pierson was born March 29, 1908 to Ameil and Anna (Lickhard) Pierson. He was united in marriage to Darlene Riley on Feb. 27, 1937 in Rock Falls. He retired from farming after farming all of his adult life near Sheffield. He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Yorktown and a member of the Men's Lutheran Brotherhood.

He  is survived by two sons, Gerald, Wooster, Ohio and Darwin, Sheffield;  one daughter, Mrs. Manuel (Anita) Garcia, Sterling;  18 grandchildren; three great grandchildren;  one sister, Mrs. Howard (Arlene) Hansen, Tampico; and one brother, Clarence, Forreston. 

He was preceded in death by one son, Stanley.