Myra Ann Pearson
Myra Ann Pearson died Jan. 14, 2013, at her home in Washington, D.C. Born in Oklahoma, she lived in or near Pittsburgh, Pa., until 1972. There, she raised two children with her first husband, John G. Buchanan Jr., until his death in 1970.
She started a new life in Paradise Valley after marrying James A. Pearson in 1972. Following Jim Pearson’s death in 1996, she remained in Arizona and was again married at age 81 to former Gov. Sam Goddard in 1999.
Throughout her 37 years in Arizona, she was an active volunteer with the Heard Museum, the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Wellesley College Club. She was a talented artist who regularly donated her decorated objects to charity auctions. Myra was also an avid tennis player who competed in local tournaments and regularly hosted round-robin groups on her own tennis court.
In her 90th year, she both had her illustrations published in a children’s book and competed in a national tennis tournament in Houston.
In 2009, following Sam Goddard’s death in 2006, she left Arizona for Washington to join her Buchanan family. Her beauty and zest for life earned her new admirers from all generations.
Her daughter Joan Buchanan, in addition to her three husbands, predeceased her. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law John and Denise Buchanan and their four sons; Jim Pearson's children Ann Jorgensen, Jane Evans, Nancy Rodolph and John Pearson; Sam Goddard's sons Terry, Tim and Bill Goddard; and their spouses, children and grandchildren, all of whose lives she followed with great interest.
