James Randolph Ayers, trusted financial advisor to scores of people and businesses up and down the East Coast, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, September 19, 2007, at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL.
James spent his life fighting financial battles on behalf of many individuals and businesses, and he mounted and sustained a resilient fight over the past few weeks to defeat his illnesses-especially after he knew his family and friends congregated to be by his side during his battle. His clients became his friends, and his friends became his clients. Family and friends converged to help him in his battle, but in the end this was the only one he lost.
Born in Mt. Airy, NC on August 26, 1932 to Margie Lee and Euell Sinclair Ayers, Jim spent his early years there with his parents and two older brothers, Nyles and Perry. The Ayers family moved to Baltimore, MD in 1942, and returned to Mt. Airy in 1945 following the end of the Second World War. After high school, Jim enlisted in the United States Army to serve his country during the Korean Conflict.
Following four years serving our nation, Jim attended Columbia College in New York and graduated from Bentley in Waltham, MA with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
In 1998, Jim and his wife, Christine, moved to St. Petersburg, FL where he ably expanded his CPA practice. He became well-known as a dependable and trustworthy financial analyst, as many friends and clients will attest, especially those that were able to be with him in his final days in Florida.
Jim will be remembered by his extended family and friends for his loving and compassionate spirit, his patient and understanding nature, and his generous gift of self to any person in need.
Jim is survived by his wife, Christine, of St. Pete Beach, FL; his daughter, Diana, of Lexington, MA; his sons: James of Jersey City, NJ, and Jerald and his wife, Heidi, and grandson, Timothy, all of Billerica, MA; and step-children: Jeff of Parkville, MD, and Elena and her husband, John, and their daughter, Isabella, all of Tuscon, AZ. They all share a love and appreciation of his giving spirit. Jim is also survived by his brothers: Perry and his wife, Fanny, of San Francisco, and Nyles and his wife, Cynthia Young of Nashville, TN. They acknowledge that their yearly family reunion get-togethers will continue in honor of Jim, but will obviously never be the same without their younger brother.
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Christine, I know that everyone whose life was touched by Jim will miss him. My heart felt sympathy goes out to you and all his family and friends. Love Kathy
Jim has fought the good fight and finished the race! St. Peter may well have assigned him to accounting for all the gold bricks in Heaven’s roads. What a great guy for the job! We will all miss him until the glorious day we meet again!
Jim,
We’re all going to miss you so much. In retrospect, I am so happy that Elena, Johnny and I were able to fly you out to Arizona for what ended up being your last Christmas, and I was also very happy we were all able to be with you during your final days. I left that hospital really believing you were going to pull through, and that we would be able to give you another Christmas in Arizona with the little monkey.
We could all see in your eyes that you knew we were there, and that us being there made you happy.
Thank you for being you, and for giving us all the pleasure of knowing you while you were here. I’m going to miss our conversations on politics and economics!
Love, Jeff
Christine,
It’s hard to understand why people are taken away from us, but find comfort in knowing that you were a special part of a well-lived life.
Love is infinite……
I will remember Jim as a warm and welcoming man whenever I came to the offices to visit Christine. I also loved watching his interaction with their wonderful spaniel. She gave him such joy.
Jim was a part of the family of my favorite cousins, Perry, “B”, and James. My mother and their father were brother and sister. We spent many happy hours together when we were growing up. Jim’s death is sad for me and I wish to extend my synpathy to his entire family.
Jim I will greatly miss you. Thank you for you loving support.
Rebecca
Although I knew Jim for a short time, he made a big influence on my life. I worked a couple of tax seasons for Christine and Jim; both teaching me much about tax reporting. I was impressed with their patience for each other and other people. Their cocker spaniel would run and play, then jump in her special chair to fall asleep. This was an added joy to the job. Jim, you were a wonderful person. Christine, you were blessed with the time together with Jim. Hold on to the memories.
My deepest sympathy. Always remember the joy and he will never be gone in your heart.
My sympathy to the entire Ayers family on the loss of James. You will be in my prayers for healing.
Deborah Cindy’s sister
Christine, the times we met with you and Jim, he impressed us with his knowledge, wisdom, smile and gentle manner. He will be missed
by all who knew him. We ask God,
in our prayers, to help you in this time of sorrow.
Dearest Ayers Family,
On behalf of myself and all of Cynthia’s children, we want you to know how truly sorry we are for your loss. Know that are hearts and prayers are with you.
Very sincerely and with much respect, Kathy
There is no doubt that Jim is smiling down on all of us. I just hope he is still smiling at me come tax season!
Jim, I will always remember you with the warmest of memories and I will cherish the valuable lessons you taught me. Among the more humorous of lessons, I know how not to boil water and how to dail for pizza instead. We were all lucky to have known you.
I hope yuo are running and galavnting about with Sasha…. hopefully there is a dog run up there for Sasha, and a very comfortable bench for you to rest on while she plays.
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What a great man, I remember his smile, giving up his office for Sasha or rather sharing his office, Christine his love for you was in his eyes whenever he looked at you, truly a match made in heaven he will be waiting for you. My prayers are for you and your family.
Jim was one of my first clients when I started my business, now almost 8 years ago. Knowing the struggles a new business faces, Jim always made himself available to me, both as a friend and as a confidant when troublesome business issues arose.
In many ways, Jim reminded me of my memories of my Grandfather. They shared many of the same endearing, admiral qualities: hardworking, principled, and honest to a fault.
Because of our friendship, there were times as my business grew that I would make the trip to St. Pete Beach myself not a short journey!, instead of sending a technician — even for the smallest task — just so I could share a cup of coffee and some time with Jim and Christine.
It was always a pleasure to share time with them both. I will miss Jim dearly, but always think of him whenever I drive across the Corey Causeway — and remember the good times and great coffee that we shared.
You have my heartfelt sympathy, Christine and family members. He was one of a kind”, kind being the operative word. He certainly was a great friend and indispensable to me at a difficult time of my life. Please let me know if I can do anything at this time or in the future. Most sincerely, Nancy Harter
Jim is truly an angel,he was on earth and is in heaven. We enjoyed
our visits in the evenings with Jim and Tasha and then with Jim and Brownie. He definitely was a friend and so wonderful to donate his time to the business of Bridgehampton Bay Condo Association. We will truly miss Jim.
I remember James when i was just a little boy, he was about 18 years old at that time. My dad was his Uncle. Over the years our family lost touch with James and his family, and his 2 brothers Perry and NylesB. I hope to hear from Perry and Nyles through email. I express my sympathy to the Ayers family, and only wish i could have had a chance to get to know James, his family and brothers. I do hope thatas part of distance family I might get the chance to attend a family reunion.
William E. Stanley Jr, son of Bill Stanley – James’s Uncle.
Jim will be sadly missed by us. He was truly a wonderful person.
Dear Christine,
On behalf of Stephen and myself, I would like to extend my sincere sympathy to you, to Jim’s children, and to your children.
In my association with Jim in the last 6 yrs. I found him to be an extrordinary advocate and representative for those who no longer were able to represent themselves. He went above and beyond what was expected of him, connecting to his clientsfriends at a very deep and caring level. I would like to add that he did all of this with a great sense of humor, which I truly enjoyed.
Once again, our sympathy for your loss of a great human being.
Love,
Stephen Sellman
and Mary Ellen Tolo
I am so sorry to hear of his passing. He was truly a treasure to know. I will miss his guidance.
Jim was always so friendly and helpful when we needed him. Never any doubt he knew what to do and how to help us. We will really miss him. gandm
Christine,
I am so sorry to hear about Jim. I enjoyed getting to know Jim during our class projects at your office and our wonderful dinner get-togethers. I will always remember his humor and quick-wit. He will be missed.
Rich and I send our deepest condolences. He will be missed.
To Dad,
We pray you’ll be around
To watch us where we go
To help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer
As you go away
To watch us from above
And guide us with your grace
In hopes that we will find
A place where we’ll be safe
May you find eternal peace
In loving memory
Your Children
James R. Ayers Jr.
Jerald R. Ayers
Diana M. Ayers
In our memory, we can still see Jim walking his little dog and visiting with owners of the Bridgehampton Bay Condominium and their families. Jim was not only our Condo Association President, but also a true friend. Jim many times would go out of his way and go the extra mile to help others. We were truly impressed by his generous and helful nature. There are few people in the world like Jim Ayres and he will be remembered and greatly missed.
My darling Jim. It is 14 years ago since you passed away and every day, you are so missed. Your love and kindness were cherished every day and will continue until we are together again in heaven. 143