Longtime CYSCA Member Suzanne Schell Pearce Has Died

May 26, 2016

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Pearce-1 CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Suzanne “Suzy” Schell Pearce, 77, a longtime peace activist, died on April 14. The cause of death was cancer.

A resident of Cambridge, she worked in many worldwide, national, and local initiatives to promote global peace and justice.

Born in New York City in 1938, she graduated from The Putney School in Vermont, Radcliffe College in 1960 and Columbia Teachers’ College in 1966.

After living and working in France for several years, she married psychiatrist John K. Pearce and settled permanently in Cambridge.

Her early career included working for Realites magazine in Paris and teaching at the Judge Baker School, the Brookline Public Schools, and Mass Bay Community College.

In the mid-1980s she formed a lifelong commitment to the anti-nuclear movement, working tirelessly through leadership in various projects such as the Council for a Nuclear Weapons Freeze, The Lawyers Alliance for Nuclear Arms Control and The Middle Powers Initiative.

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She helped to found, and later served as president, of the Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association, which focused on educational and cultural exchanges. She was active with the Coalition for a Strong UN, the American Friends Service Committee, and most recently, Cambridge Peace Action and the Foundation for Democratic World Federation.

A lifelong and talented poet and cellist, she brought her love for art, music and culture to everything she did.

She is survived by her brother Orville Schell of Berkeley, Calif.; her daughters Sarah Pearce of Bloomington, Ind. and Miranda Pearce of Cambridge; and four grandchildren. A public memorial service was held on Saturday, May 21 at the First Parish in Cambridge.