Teddy bears have long provided comfort and security to children, but thanks to Dianne Shoemaker, and most recently her daughter, Maggie Pierce, Teddy bears are doing the same for adults.
Maggie Pierce operates Maggie’s Memory Bears out of her home in West Point.
The bears are made not of traditional components, but rather from the clothing of loved ones passed.
“My mom (Dianne) made them in the ’80s. I tried to get her to start her own Web site,” Pierce said, “But, she was at the point where she wanted to quit making them.”
“I wanted to be at home with my children,” Pierce continued, “I kind of took over from there.”
The bears weren’t always a way of remembering loved ones.
“(Mom) first started just making crafts. She made these bears out of a lot of quilts,” Pierce said, “Someone just asked her if she could make a bear out of clothing.”
From there a small business was born.
Pierce, however, was not a seamstress by trade.
“I've sewed off and on since I was in high school,” Pierce said, “I've done this full time for five years, before that it was just off and on sewing.”
For Pierce, the business is not just about making money.
“There is a great satisfaction in seeing someone receive their bears and seeing the comfort that it provides them,” Pierce said, “I lost two brothers. Everyone deals with loss differently, but I have an understanding for what people are feeling.”
The business of making bears never gets dull for Pierce, “A lot of (the bears) are unique in that they are personal.”
Pierce added that some of the most personal are a loved one’s work shirts because they are so much a part of who that person was.
Pierce puts a lot of herself into each bear as well.
“I have done lots of military bears, and that is hard because they have given everything,” Pierce said, “Someone in the military, I don't know, they have given a lot. They have given themselves.”
One of the hardest bears Pierce produced followed the recent tragedy at Little Sioux Scout Camp when a West Point native, Aaron Eilerts, was killed in the tornado that struck the camp.
“The Boy Scout that died in the storm. A family friend asked if I could make a bear,” Pierce said, “I said I would put something together. We didn’t want to ask the family for one of his shirts, so we talked to people around here and found out what (scouting) patches he had gotten and made a bear.”
Pierce’s services have reached out all across the country and even overseas.
“My husband (Lynn) keeps track of the states,” Pierce said, “We have reached 37 states so far including Hawaii and Alaska.”
“I also shipped a bear to Glasgow, Scotland, made out of a plaid jumper. That’s the only overseas one,” Pierce said.
One of her more famous bears, was sent to a “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
“I made a bear for Loretta Lynn, it was a coal mining bear,” Pierce mused, “A friend of her family asked me to make it for her.”
Pierce added that her small business continues to grow, “Every year it is a little more. I made almost 500 this year.”
The rush between Thanksgiving and Christmas can take its toll, however, “Right before Christmas I do get burned out. I got them all done that were ordered, but it was up to the last minute in terms of shipping,” Pierce said.
Despite a little holiday fatigue, for Pierce it’s worth the trouble.
“It's rewarding for me to be at home,” Pierce said of the flexibility of being available for her children.
Pierce continues to give credit for much of her success to the surrounding area.
“I can reach so many places with the Internet,” Pierce said, “It's still about half and half. I do get a very good support locally.”
Because of her success, Pierce continues to give back, “I donate 10 bears a year to Relay for Life. They provide me with a survivor shirt,” Pierce said of creating the bears, “... and they use them for their auction.”
For more information contact (402) 372-9091 or visit www.maggiesmemorybears.com
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