August 20, 1938 - October 20, 2021
Heather passed away at the age of 83 in Maple Ridge with family by her side on October 20, 2021. She was born on August 20, 1938, in Brisbane, Australia to Bill Brown and Alice (Hawkins) Brown. After graduating from St. Margaret's Girls School in Brisbane, Heather completed Teachers Training College and taught elementary school in Eight Mile Plains, Camp Hills and Tara, before departing for overseas in 1962 with her lifelong friend and travel companion Janet (Adams) Howes. After five glorious weeks wandering round Greece, they travelled to England and found work teaching in Nottingham. In 1964 they became teachers in Port Alberni, British Columbia. There Heather met Steve Pearce, and they married in 1966. After a year in Chicago, Heather and Steve settled in Nelson, where Heather taught at St. Josephs. Together they raised four beloved daughters in their rambling mountainside house in South Slocan. Upon Steve's retirement, Heather and Steve moved to Australia. Steve passed away in 1994, and Heather returned to British Columbia to be closer to her growing family. In 2012 she married Mel Edwards. They lived together happily in Maple Ridge. Heather's interests included genealogy, family histories and feeding sweets to her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is survived by her loving husband Mel; sisters Carolyn (Brown) Howe and Jocelyn (Brown) Avern; daughters Margaret Pearce, Connie (Pearce) Cornell, Anthea Pearce and Jillian (Pearce) Wilson; stepsons Sean and Bryce Edwards; eleven grandchildren (Agnes, Paul, Justin, Andrew, Maxwell, Anika, Felicity, Grant, Austin, Sebastian and Isaac); seven great-grandchildren (Kiena, James, Honor, Tiger, Emery, Cinna and Matthew); and many nieces and nephews. Services will be held online, please see heatherpearcememorial.com for information. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Heather's name to the Salvation Army or First United in Vancouver's Downtown East Side.