Leslie Ann McDonald (Pierce) of Grand Junction, Colorado, age 64, unexpectedly passed away on January 7, 2026 from a very brief illness.

Leslie was born December 29, 1961 in Wilmington, Delaware to Taylor Cooling Pierce and Helen Pierce (Pavlik) who both preceded her in death.

Leslie graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware, then moved to Fort Collins, Colorado where she obtained a degree in Business - Computer Information Systems from Colorado State University in 1985. During this time she juggled studying and working nights and weekends as a waitress. On July 23, 1983 she married Timothy D. McDonald and later divorced. After graduating, she moved to the bay area of California and began her career.

Leslie lived in cities of Concord, Tracy, and Redwood City. In 1986, she began working for Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, California as a software engineer in the credit card division where she worked on the customer service online system. In 1993, she had a short stint at Integral Systems. The majority of her career was with Oracle in Redwood Shores, California that began in 1996. She designed, developed and managed the build and maintenance of business applications in the areas of accounting, order management and a long span in human resource systems. In 2002 she took an education leave to obtain her master's degree in Computer Software from Santa Clara University. She retired in 2012.

In 1989, Leslie met Ty Hayden through work. They later married on October 13, 1996, and spent a majority of their careers working on the same teams. In 2008 they moved to Grand Junction. Together they enjoyed hiking, biking, RV travel, and gardening. Leslie loved hiking local areas including the Colorado National Monument and the Grand Mesa. Her hobbies include reading, baking, sewing her own clothes, stained glass, pottery, drawing, swimming, going to the gym, and jigsaw puzzles. She lived an active and healthy lifestyle. She was talented, smart, thoughtful, funny, and very organized. She was the queen of spreadsheets.

Leslie is survived by her husband of 29 years Ty V. Hayden, brother John Sr. (Donna) Tracy, niece Carrie (Jamie) Washington, nephew John Tracy Jr., grand niece Makayla Washington, friend Anne Brock who was like a sister, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

A private family service will be held at a later date.

Leslie will be deeply missed. She was the best!