Lauren Betts Collins Pierson, 27, peacefully entered into eternal life on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, after a seven-month battle with leukemia. She was born in Virginia Beach to her parents, Howard and Susan Collins.
Lauren graduated from Cox High School in 2007 and from Old Dominion University in December of 2010. She enjoyed many activities throughout the years including softball, soccer, basketball, Girl Scouts, swim team, camping, jet skiing, snowboarding, wake boarding, walking at First Landing State Park, the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and downtown Norfolk, and ODU football games and tailgating.
One of her proudest achievements was earning her first and second degree black belts in Taekwondo. Her love for children was evidenced by the fact that she became a Taekwondo instructor and worked at the Old Dominion Child Development Center. Spending time with family and friends was of paramount importance to Lauren. Her greatest joy in life was being an adoring and loving mother to her dear daughter, Skylar.
Lauren was employed in the accounting department at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel just prior to becoming ill. Throughout the following months, she continued her battle with courage and dignity as her disease continued to take its toll. She will forever remain a symbol of strength and perseverance for all who knew and loved her.
Left to cherish her memory are her loving husband, Mathew Pierson; her adorable 10-month-old daughter, Skylar Betts Pierson; her twin sister, Jennifer Lee Collins; her grandmother, Edith Betts Schuman; and her parents, all of Virginia Beach. In addition, she leaves behind a host of loving cousins, aunts, uncles and friends who all will miss her dearly.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Laskin Road Chapel. A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Friday, March 18, at Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church with the Rev. Thomas W. Deppe and the Rev. Julia Messer officiating. Burial will follow in Eastern Shore Chapel Cemetery. A reception will immediately follow the burial in the church Parish Hall.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, or American Red Cross.
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