On The Move: As She Turns 100, Anna Pier Is Not Slowing Down

The leaves are blazing yellow and crimson along Cambridge Street. At the front gate of Youville House Assisted Living Residence, a small, elderly woman pushes her walker across the sidewalk. She moves with a palpable sense of purpose. If you look at her bright, purple shirt, you’ll see that purpose spelled out in bold, white letters: “The Greater Boston Walk to End Alzheimer’s.”

For the last sixteen years, Anna Pier’s self-directed training sessions have been a reliable seasonal spectacle. She usually begins training for the Walk one month before the event takes place.

“I do eleven back-and-forths from the gate to the back parking lot,” she says. “That equals one mile.”

Every year, Anna walks in honor of her husband Arthur, who passed away in 2006. Anna doesn’t remember exactly how she learned about The Walk, which is sponsored by The Alzheimer’s Association, but she remembers that fewer people seemed to be aware of it in 2009. “I introduced people to it at Youville,” she says. “I had to explain to the (Executive) Director what it was and why I was raising money.”

“It is a fascinating event. There are thousands of people, all groups. There are older people living with Alzheimer’s, and there are also grandchildren. Some people bring their dogs and dress them up in tee-shirts!”

Raised in Somerset, England, Anna first met her husband Arthur in 1950, when the young physician from Milton, Massachusetts decided to visit England on vacation.

“He was staying with good friends of my mother,” remembers Anna, who was 25 years old at the time. “And they didn’t know how to entertain him, so they asked my mother if they could bring him over for a visit!”

Arthur and Anna clicked immediately. They began writing to each other every week after Arthur returned to the United States. Meanwhile, Anna embarked on a six-month trip to South Africa with family friends who needed a travel companion. During her intensive travels, Anna remembers writing two sets of weekly letters, one to her mother and one to Arthur. “I don’t think I slept very much!” she says.

“When I returned to Liverpool, my mother met me and said, ‘You have a cable from an Arthur Pier, he’s coming on Memorial Day weekend! Who is he?’”

Of course, the rest is history. Arthur proposed, and the couple married a few months later, on September 8, 1951, in a small, 14^th-century church in South Petherton.

After their honeymoon in Scotland, the couple crossed the Atlantic to begin their married life in Massachusetts. They soon bought a house in Brookline, where they would raise their five children.

“It was hard to leave my home country behind,” Anna remembers, “but it’s amazing what love does to you. And I was very lucky to have a supportive father-in-law.”

From young ages, both Arthur and Anna were raised by single parents who had each lost their spouses. Arthur’s father was Arthur Stanwood Pier, a well-known author who wrote novels based on his experiences as a boarding school student. Anna’s mother, Gweneth, remained in England after Anna’s departure, but would often visit her American family (“only by boat, she never flew!” remembers Anna).

Today, Anna is a happy grandmother and great grandmother. She looks forward to seeing relatives this October, not just for The Walk, but also for her 100th birthday.

“I don’t need a celebration, but whatever happens, happens,” says Anna. “My daughter Gweneth and my granddaughter will be walking with me. I don’t know who else will be there. Nobody has told me anything!”

If you would like to support Anna and Alzheimer’s research, you can donate on her team page by visiting https://act.alz.org. Click on “Walk to End Alzheimer’s” and then “Find a Participant.” Enter “Anna Pier” in the participant field and you will be directed to her team page.