He became a programmer, working in California, and took trips to places like Machu Pichu. At the beginning of Covid, he was visiting Thailand--and then was unable to leave, due to Covid restrictions. Because he was able to work remotely, he stayed in Thailand, met a wonderful girl, Kat Thi, and married her. In order to be married, he had to first become a Buddhist monk, and the rituals to do that took some time. They became the parents of a beautiful baby girl.

In 2024, his parents were able to travel to Thailand to meet his wife and their grandchild.

J.D. suddenly passed away on Friday, June 20, 2025 in Thailand.

We grieve his passing.

#2 A time of grieving was held at his adoptive parents Greg and Cindy's home on Sunday, June 22. His birth mother will go to Thailand to bring home some of his ashes. The rest were put in a Thai river by his wife, followed by a bowl of beautiful flowers.

Some of his ashes will remain in Thailand, and some will be buried in the Kennard, Nebraska cemetery.

#2 Funeral card--Thailand (sent by his wife, Kat)

Prayer service 7pm June 25, 2025

Latthiwanaram Temple June 26, 2025

10am Monks chanting

11am Offer lunch to monks

11:30am Chanting of funeral prayers

12 noon Cremation

The funeral will be held in the Wat Latthi Wanaram (Wat Paa Taan) temple, Hang Dong District, Chiang Mai

#3 Funeral held at Northern Lights, Fort Calhoun, Nebraska

In Loving Memory

J.D. Pierce

March 17, 1989 ~ June 21, 2025

Pastor Kevin Huddleston

Eulogy and Prayer

Tom Lingelbach, Uncle

Lindsey Gilmore, Cousin

Andrew Buller, Friend

Family Memories

Shared Memories, Ellen Collins, Cousin

Pastor Kevin Huddleston

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom com, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever.

Amen.

Take Me Home Country Roads

Tom Lingelbach, Lance Hancock

Gathering of friends and relatives

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in memory; tribute below from a good friend (read at the Nebraska funeral)

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Dear JD,

We've gone through so much together. So much of our life was tied by a mutual love of video games.

We bonded over Command & Conquer in middle school. You skipped a grade and had difficulty making new friends, but we sat in the lunchroom plotting out builds in our notebooks to go home and try them out. You were really smart!

Then we played Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X, and X-2. And Dune 2000, Civilization 2/3/4, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, Twisted Metal, Legend of Zelda, Mario, and so many more. We would chat for hours on the landline while gaming, or I would go over there and we would game all night long.

You disappeared for a few years in high school. That was really difficult - I thought I lost you then. But we reconnected as soon as you got to college.

We immediately picked up where we left off - this time World of Warcraft. We joined the same guild (Knights Errant) and started crushing Burning Crusade. We spent hours (days) just grinding Booty Bay NPCs just to get the admiral hat. We spent years raiding, arenas, wall jumping on top of the bank in Ironforge, and exploring this new world together - sometimes for over 24 hours straight. We both got really good! We moved to the top guild on the server and got a world 50 kill on a new dungeon. You moved on to Diablo / Path of Exile, and I kept going to join a World 10 guild for a while - we still kept talking about anything and everything.

After a few expansions, we got bored and moved on to League of Legends. We were never the greatest, but we had a good time playing duos and ARAM. You convinced me to try Path of Exile. Every new patch we would grind out a new 80+ hardcore character (if you die, it's permanent - no restarts). We would spend days grinding only to lose everything to some gimmick or momentary lapse of attention - and then immediately start back over with a fresh character to try to get our goal.

You moved away to Wisconsin, but we continued to game. I went out to visit you, and we had a great time at Six Flags. You left to California - we still gamed and discussed everything under the sun.

You told me you were going to Thailand for a month or so and I thought that was crazy. Then Covid hit, and you were debating on coming back or staying and waiting it out. I think you made the right decision- you started doing charity and feeding the needy, and I couldn't have been more proud of you. You met a beautiful woman, and then told me you couldn't game for a bit because you were going to train as a monk. You were making a solid life out in Thailand and I had a feeling you weren't ever going to come back.

You got married and had a baby! You were doing so well in your professional life - doing seminars and then starting your own venture. And you were a loving father.

We tried to stay in touch more - we played Path of Exile 2 for a bit. It was difficult with the time zones, latency, work schedules, and family life. We talked about me coming out there and visiting - I was going to reach out to make plans for this fall when I finally got a break in my work schedule.

I wish we had played more. I wish we had talked more near the end. I wish we could just go back and stay up all night gaming without a care in the world. I wish it didn't happen this way. I wish mental health wasn't so cruel. I wish you reached out when you were struggling. I wish I reached out to you sooner about coming out this fall. I wish we could restart our characters together.

But we can't - this one was permanent. My gaming buddy is gone. RIP JD.--Andrew Buller

~~~ obituary and funeral card courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Public Library, Blair, Nebraska~~~

FindaGrave # 284297880