Gillian Peirce

Gillian Peirce, 69, of Fairfield, died Thursday, June 2, 2016, in Hospice at the Jefferson County Health Center.

A private funeral was held Monday at Behner Funeral Home in Fairfield with Jennifer Hamilton officiating in the Vedic rite cremation ceremony.

A memorial service is at 2 pm Sunday at the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, 51 North Court in Fairfield.

Gillian Peirce was born on October 9, 1946 in Hampshire, England, the daughter of Daphne and Ronald Peirce. She was the oldest of six children.

She graduated from Worthing Technical High School in West Sussex. In 1966 she came to the United States and was employed as a nanny in Hartford, CT for two years.

In 1968 she married Thomas Candelent. They were married for 15 years.

In 1969 she learned the TM program. In1972, she became a TM teacher and taught TM at the Institute of Living in Hartford, CT where early TM brain wave research was pioneered.

She conducted TM courses for corrections officers in the prison system.

In 1976, the year of the U.S bicentennial celebration, she became an American citizen.

In 1978, she moved to Minneapolis, MN where she was a Vice-President in the Mortgage Department at Norwest Bank. She continued to teach TM part-time.

In 1984 she moved to Fairfield and managed the Ayurvedic Clinic at Maharishi International University.

From 1986 until her retirement in 2012, she held upper management positions in several prominent Fairfield businesses.

She was a Vice-President of Marketing at Copperfield Chimney Supply and Senior Vice-President of Compliance at Polar Dreams International. She was Customer Training Manager at Express Shipping and Customer Service Manager at LISCO.

She was an ordained minister in Divine Mother Church in Fairfield and for 15 years devoted many hours to administration, pastoral work, and assistance to those in need.
She was the author of an inspirational blog titled, “Stories of Gill’s Spiritual Journey.”

She loved gardening, reading, and traveling, especially her annual visit to her family in England.

Survivors include her family in England: her father Ronald Peirce of Worthing; two sisters: Helen Peirce of Teignmouth and Janet Sedgwick (Simon) of Worthing; three brothers: Richard Peirce of Worthing, Martin Peirce of Warrington, and Clive Peirce of Teignmouth; and a neice, Karena Sedgwick-Maltby. She was preceded in death by her mother.