Amelia L. Pierson, a homemaker and inveterate bridge player, died Sept. 12 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson from congestive heart failure. The Lutherville resident was 85.

The former Amelia Louise Schneidereith was born in Baltimore and raised on Springlake Way in Homeland. She was the daughter of C. William Schneidereith, a third -eneration owner of Schneidereith & Sons, a Baltimore printing company established in 1849, and Louise McComas Schneidereth, a homemaker.

After graduating in 1951 from Friends School, Mrs. Pierson received an associate degree in 1953 from then-Centenary College for Women in Hackettstown, N.J., now Centenary University.

In 1954, she married Kirvan H. Pierson Jr., a civil engineer, and they settled in Riderwood’s Thornleigh neighborhood. The couple later moved to West Joppa Road in Lutherville.

Mrs. Pierson was an avid gardener, tennis and bridge player, and was a member of several bridge clubs, family members said.

She was also a member of the Roland Run Club, where she played interclub tennis for 20 years, and the Hunt Valley Country Club, where she was a longtime golfer. She was also a member of the Woman’s Club of Roland Park.

Mrs. Pierson was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St., where a memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 12.

In addition to her husband of 64 years, former vice president of the Arundel Corp.’s heavy construction divison, survivors include a son, Kirvan Henry Pierson III of Honolulu; two daughters, Margaret Louisde Pierson and Jennifer Pierson Hirsch, both of Lutherville; and six grandchildren.

— Frederick N. Rasmussen