One of the Least of These: Linnie Pierce 1906-1996
By Hal Haralson
[Hal Haralson practices law in Austin, Texas and is a frequent contributor to Christian Ethics Today.]
She was old (over 80), her clothes were dirty, her dress near-drug the ground. Her back was so deformed she looked at her feet when she walked. She carried a cane and had an old bag over her shoulder.
She was a "bag lady." She had a Styrofoam cup filled with water that she poured on plants that looked thirsty. She picked trash out of trash cans. This was all she knew after spending 42 years in a mental institution.
This was my first experience with Linnie Pierce.
She attended our first retreat for former mental patients at the Butt Foundation ranch near Leaky, Texas.
The Mental Health Association in Texas started support groups for former mental patients called FAIR (Families and Individuals in Reliance) in 1980. The first FAIR group was in Austin. Three years later, we had groups in 30 cities.
Dian Cox was the MHAT staff member in charge and I was the committee chairman.
Since I had been diagnosed manic-depressive after a suicide attempt and 3 months in the San Antonio State Hospital (including 13 shock treatments), I felt this was a way I could pay back some of those people who helped me.
I put 10 years in the ministry behind me and went to law school. 1980 found me with 10 years experience as an attorney.
Linnie Pierce and I became friends. We both attended the first nine of the FAIR retreats. She then moved from San Antonio to Kenedy, Texas where she lived in one room of an old house. I hired a lady to take her one meal a day and help her take her medicine.
Linnie sold her house in San Antonio. The buyer, a real estate broker, made payments to Linnie for 2 years and stopped. Linnie called and asked me to help.
I found that this man told Linnie all she needed was a deed conveying the house to him. There was no note or deed of trust.
I finally located the buyer. He had sold the house as if he owed nothing on it, pocketed the cash and quit paying Linnie.
The "buyer" was now a student in law school. I prepared a note and deed of trust and wrote to him, telling him that if he didn`t sign the instruments and return them to me, the only "Bar" he would practice in would be Maggie Maes in Austin.
He signed and never missed a payment after that.
Linnie asked me to handle all her business affairs and for the next 10 years I went to Kenedy once a month to check on her.
She had me do a will leaving her estate in trust for the benefit of the mentally ill, naming me as Trustee.
Linnie spent the last 2 years of her life in a nursing home in Kenedy. She died March 16, 1996, at the age of 90. 1 conducted the graveside service with 5 people in attendance.
I probated Linnie`s estate. There were stocks and bonds valued at $75,000.00, savings of $22,000.00, and her house, and 20 acres of land which sold for $26,000.00.
Since she had no family, the entire estate went into the trust. Where did the money come from? I have no idea. She would not tell me.
The interest on her trust is used each year for the benefit of the mentally ill. One never knows what the result will be when we stop to help . . . "one of the least of these.".
