THE LATE MR G. P. PIERCE. [From the n.z herald.]

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9087, 20 May 1891, Page 2

THE LATE MR G. P. PIERCE. [From the n.z herald.]

The sudden death of Mr G. P. Pierce will cause a great shock to every one of our readers. no resident of Auckland was so well known as Mr Pierce. He has been for the last thirty years going in and out among us, connected as lie was with one of our most prominent institutions. He never sought any political office, or became conspicuous in public concerns. But for all that, be must be regarded as a public man, and perhaps no one of- our citizens was looked upon by everybody with greater love and affection. These words are not too strong to describe the feeling entertained for Mr Pierce in the minds of all who knew him. He was .a man who never seemed to' miss an op • portunity of doing good, and all his beneficent acts were of a quiet and. unostentatious character, which showed them to be the natural outcome of his simple and kindly disposition. He was gentle and cheerful in his nature, and always appeared to be delighted when amongst a happy party of young people, joining heartily in their amusements and- gaieties., For very many years he has been prominent in the Masonic body, and there, as elsewhere, he was ever ready to respond to the call of charity. There are many in Auckland who, on reading the announcement of Mr Pierces death, will, witn full hearts and tearful eyes, recall words and acts of kindness and sympathy. So deeply do vye feel the death of Mr Pierce, as a genial warm-hearted citizen, as a pattern in all the relations of life, that we can' hardly speak as we ought of him, as a business man of first class ability. His career as manager of the New Zealand Insurance Company has been entirely Unblemished It was marked by great capacity and shrewdness, all directed to the advancement of the Company, and not to any personal object. * Few companies have been so successful as it has been, and this has been chiefly^ owingjto M.r, Pierces great business capacity, his caution and discretion, his power of organisation, and of attracting good men around him. All this is universally known and admitted. .'But jWe feel-, that all over > the city to-day " his death will be mourned as that of a 'good man, upon whose character in every aspect there rested not the slightest stain, who fulfilled all his dutios in every relation of life, and ' who was deeply and sincerely religious, and prepared for the call that came so suddenly to him.