John Wentworth Peirce, 94, architect and conservationist

John Wentworth Peirce was an accomplished architect who designed churches, hospitals, schools, and residences around the state and a conservationist who worked to preserve land throughout Essex County.

''A big man with a big voice," Mr. Peirce was a ubiquitous presence in the Topsfield political scene, although ''he was too blunt to be a politician," said his son, John Jr. of Alberta, Canada.

The longtime Topsfield resident died Monday at his home. He was 94.

Mr. Peirce's architecture firm, Peirce, Pierce and Kramer, Architects, designed Trinity Episcopal Church in Topsfield, the Shields Warren Radiation Laboratory for New England Deaconess Hospital, and the Loeb Laboratory and Swope Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.

''I think his greatest impact was his relationship with his clients," said Walter Pierce, one of the firm's partners. ''He was just superb with that. He was a man that people just trusted implicitly almost on first meeting."

The firm, which mostly worked with modern architectural design, was formed in 1961 after Mr. Peirce worked for a while at Anderson and Beckwith, Architects, and the prestigious Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott firm.

''The Swope Center is, in my opinion, his best building," his son said. ''It's what I would call a gracious modern building in a historic setting."

Mr. Peirce graduated in 1933 from Harvard College, where he rowed for two years on the varsity crew team, family said. He tried working in real estate for a while and embarked on a series of adventures, including rowing 450 miles on a 12-foot rowboat from White Horse in Yukon Territory to Circle City, Alaska.

During World War II, he joined the Navy and headed to the Pacific, starting out as a fighter-director on the USS Sangamon, ''an interesting but sedentary job," he later recalled in a 1948 Harvard alumni report. At a time when radar was first being used as a navigation tool, Mr. Peirce landed a spot as assistant navigator on the USS Attu, and went on to navigate the USS Prince William, ''finally completing my metamorphosis from landlubber into deepwater sailor," he recalled in the report.

After his return, he earned his master's degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1947.

In the mid-1940s, Mr. Peirce helped update the architect's registration law, which was adopted by the Legislature in 1947, according to his alumni report. He also helped write -- and rewrite -- Topsfield's zoning and builing bylaws, serving on a number of town boards. He was chairman of the Finance Committee at one point.

The same year he started his architecture firm, Mr. Peirce helped launch a nonprofit trust aimed at preserving land in Essex County.

The Essex County Greenbelt Association received more than 2,000 acres of land in donations over the years, and worked hard to raise funds to preserve other pieces of land around town. As chairman of Topsfield's Conservation Commission for a time, he directed a survey that assessed the town's open-space needs.

Mr. Peirce's loyalty and ties to New England -- especially its land -- ran deep. Residing on the Topsfield estate his predecessors established in 1856, he planted trees and exotic plants.

He spent his summers in Wareham, bringing along his two horses, three cats, a slew of dogs, a collection of ducks and chickens, and a mynah bird that called him ''Uncle Jack."

At age 89, Mr. Peirce entered a dahlia in the Topsfield Fair flower competition and earned a blue ribbon -- a prize he said he had last won in 1924.

His booming voice could often be heard offering his signature piece of advice: ''Don't worry -- it won't last. Nothing does."

He and a group of other Topsfield men met monthly to make history presentations, calling themselves the Cheese and Crackers Club. Mr. Peirce's most recent presentation was on Andrew Jackson.

His wife of 55 years, Grace (Minot), died in 1989.

In addition to his son, Mr. Peirce leaves a daughter, Lucy of Tennessee; a stepsister, Letitia Upton of Lexington; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandsons.

A memorial service will be held today at 2 p.m. in Trinity Episcopal Church. Burial will be private.