Friends stage benefit for cancer patient

Former Shohola resident ‘is well-known and well-loved’

By FRITZ MAYER

SHOHOLA, PA — Six weeks ago, 53-year-old Meryl Pierce felt a severe pain in her shoulder. She thought she had pulled a muscle. She went to a hospital emergency room and was diagnosed with lung cancer. The doctor gave her four to six months to live.

“I was shocked,” said Pierce, who now lives near Daytona Beach, FL. “I still can’t quite believe it.”

Neither could her many friends in Shohola, where she had lived until September 2005.

With the chemotherapy treatments taking a toll on her strength, Pierce could no longer work, and paying the bills became a bit more difficult. So her friends have organized a benefit to raise money to help her out. The benefit will be held on Sunday, April 2 at Rohman’s Inn beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Michael Parker, a Shohola resident who has been Pierce’s friend for 20 years, said, “We all wanted to help out. She is very well known and well loved.”

Sheila Farrell, the proprietor of Rohman’s said, “She is real friendly and caring, always willing to help out. Now we’re just giving something back.”

Pierce moved to New York City from Wales in the ’70s and married a schoolteacher. They had a son named Justin. In the early ’80s, the family bought a weekend house in Shohola. But her life wasn’t always easy.

In 1990, she and her husband divorced, and Pierce moved to Shohola full-time. She earned a living working in restaurants and sometimes cleaning houses.

Her son, Justin, became quite a successful actor in Hollywood. He appeared in six movies, including “The Big Tease” in 1999. But his success was short lived. In July 2001, he committed suicide in a Hollywood hotel room at age 25.

But Pierce managed to rise above the misfortune and enjoy life.

“She has a great sense of humor. She laughs and jokes a lot,” said Parker.

A night to remember

Pierce’s friends want the benefit to be a night to remember. Parker has been talking to lots of friends and neighbors in the community. He expects a crowd of about 200 to gather. There will be a $5 cover charge and an open buffet. Food will be provided by Rohman’s and by the Carriage House, located across the Delaware River in Barryville, NY.

There will be music all evening, performed by Joe Conner, who has frequently performed at the club over the past 20 years. There will also be drawings for several prizes.

Pierce said if she feels well enough, she will try to come to the event.

Pierce said her plans after that depend on how well she feels. “I’m going to have to go home to Wales, once I get really sick. I know I will be taken care of there.” But before then, she is going to try to travel a bit. “There are places I want to go and people I want to see,” said Pierce, in her lilting Welsh accent.

“The doctor only gave me four to six months, but I think I’m going to make it longer than that.”