Cherie Dawn Pierce (Collins), 81

Cherie Dawn (Collins) Pierce, 81, of Great Falls, Mont., passed away Jan. 30, 2026, peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones. Cherie was born in Miles City, Mont., on Sept. 26, 1944. The ninth of 13 children born to Frederick and Genevieve (Schelin) Collins. Cherie spent much of her young childhood in Eastern Montana, then her father brought the family to Lane, Idaho. She attended elementary school and junior high in Rose Lake. During her junior year of high school, she moved to the Tri-Cities and graduated from Pasco High School in Pasco, Wash., in 1962.

As a young woman, she lived throughout the Inland Northwest, working as a secretary and a bartender, where she could hold conversations with anyone about every subject there was. Her favorite subject, of course, is football and her beloved Seattle Seahawks. She managed the Ramada Inn, Holiday Hills in the Spokane Valley, and worked at various bars in the Silver Valley over the years, including The Wheel and The Happy Landing, where she met lifelong friends. There was nothing she could not make a good argument about. Politics, religion, sports.

In 1984, while living in Portland, she met and, very unexpectedly, fell in love with her husband, Dennis "Alabama" Pierce, and they married Nov. 10 in Kellogg, then moved back to the Silver Valley to be with him and make a home.

She is survived by her children, Kevin Collins (Sandra Swan) of Great Falls, Shannon McGrath of Kalispell, and Ryan Pierce (Terri) of Wesley Chapel, Fla.; her sisters, Rebecca Jo Collins of Pinehurst and LaVonne Williams of the Tri-Cities, Wash.; and a sister-in-law, Patricia Collins of Osburn. Her grandchildren are Elizabeth Collins, Alex Bollin, Katelyn McGrath, Stephanie Ivie, Hanna McGrath, Logan, Tristan and Allison Pierce. Great-grandchildren Zachary McConnell, Zavier, and Mikey Lacey. Anastasia, Hazel and Hayden Sweeten. Numerous nieces and nephews over generations. Too many to name one by one, but those she loved like her own.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Dennis, and son-in-law Casey T. McGrath; her brothers, John, Frederick, Keith, Michael T. Collins and Larry (infant) Collins; and her sisters, Marion Collier, Bernadine Lovell, Barbara Trotter, Alice Wynne and Maxine Sebastian. 

Cherie's celebration of life will be March 14, 2026, at the Wallace Elks Lodge at 2 p.m. It will be a potluck, so please bring your favorite dish and your favorite story to tell.