On Tuesday, May 7, longtime ICAS member, air show pilot and Hall of Fame inductee Walt Pierce passed away near his home in Florida. He was 79 years old.
Throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties, Pierce was a headliner at every show where he performed. And throughout his nearly 50-year air show career, the one constant was Ol’ Smoky, the 450 horsepower Stearman that he flew since the late 1960s.
For his professionalism, his skills as an aviator and performer, and in recognition of a long and distinguished career as an air show pilot, the ICAS Foundation welcomed Walt Pierce into the Air Show Hall of Fame at the 2018 ICAS Convention.
A visitation for Pierce is scheduled for Wednesday, May 15, from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Chism-Smith Funeral Home, 403 South Britain Road, Irving, Texas. The funeral will be held on Thursday, May 16, at 11:00 a.m. at the Chism-Smith Funeral Home. An inurnment will follow at 12:30 that afternoon at the Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery at 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway in Dallas.
Pierce is survived by his sister, three children and 15 grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any financial gifts be sent to the Chism-Smith Funeral Home to help with funeral expenses.
