Pierce's last public speech was made in Cleveland, Ohio on April 28, 2002. On July 23, 2002, he died of renal failure, three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer which had spread through his body. At the time, the National Alliance was bringing in more than $1 million a year, with more than 1,500 members, a paid national staff of 17 full-time officials, and was better known than at any time in its history, after which it entered a period of internal conflict and decline.