AUDREY AYRES
December 21, 1922 – May 21, 2008
Obituary
Audrey M. Ayres was born in St. Louis, MO. Mrs. Ayres was a graduate of Kirksville State Teachers College {now Truman State University}, in Kirksville, MO, where she majored in Music. A resident of Naperville, IL since 1952, she was active in Wesley United Methodist Church where she directed the children’s choir for several years.
Mrs. Ayres was active in the Ecumenical Institute (EI) and its sister organization, the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), for over 33 years as an enthusiastic volunteer and consultant. She also served as the Secretary of the joint Board of Directors, a position she held for over a decade. EI and ICA are well known non-profit organizations devoted to work in community renewal in underprivileged communities, with a focus on local leadership development.
Mrs. Ayres concentrated her work in the Fifth City community, located in the west side of Chicago. Fifth City became a model for community renewal that was replicated in other communities around the world. Mrs. Ayres was particularly devoted to the development and support of the Fifth City Preschool, which facilitated childhood education for working families. She took great pride and satisfaction in her 25 years of fund raising and development for the preschool, and made many lasting friendships there.
Mrs. Ayres is survived by her husband, Joe G. Ayres; a daughter, Martha Garcia; three sons, Michael, Peter (Lioness), and John Ayres; two brothers, Edward (Norene), and Raymond (Joan) Grossmann, of the St. Louis area; and three grandchildren, Jeremiah (Carrie), Kerry, and Nicholas Ayres. She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Mary Grossmann.
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The EI and the ICA join in the celebration of the completed life of Audrey Ayers. Audrey’s life was one of love, care and service to her family, friends, and the staff and colleagues of the EI and the ICA and the Fifty City Preschool. From 1973 she gave over 22,500 hours of direct volunteer service. Anyone who passed through the doors of the EI/ICA offices in Fifth City met Audrey. She was always there to provide support, coordination, encouragement, and always a kind word. When the EI/ICA moved its offices to Uptown, Audrey continued to support the 5th City Preschool as well as continuing to volunteer at the ICA. Her focus was the Global Archives and any other areas that needed attention.
Audrey holds a special place in our hearts. We were lifted up by her positive attitude, quick wit, sense of humor and commitment to mission. She was for many a beacon of hope in times of discouragement and doubt. Out prayers and condolences go to Joe Ayres and family. Her abundant life remains in the hearts and memory of all who were touched by her soul.
~~ EI/ICA Staff and Board of Directors
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What a fine spirit–one of the most astute theologians among us. She worked in 5th City tirelessly, driving in from her home in the western suburbs. She also gave of herself through her music. I remember her piano accompaniment as a group worked on an operetta (Stouthearted Men) for presentation during Summer 73 She also worked with Lyn on the archives. Sensitive and Responsive, Steadfast and Faithful. We will miss her.
~~ Doris Hahn
Audrey Ayres met the Ecumenical Institute in 1967, taking a weeknight course in religious studies which EI taught in cooperation with many suburban churches in the late 1960’s. She then decided to participate in EI’s work in Fifth City, the westside community development project in which EI’s campus was located. This volunteer adventure lasted 34 years. The westside location was far from Naperville, but in 1971 the ICA moved to the north side in Uptown, Chicago. It made Audrey’s commute longer, but she continued splitting her week between Fifth City and the offices in Uptown. By that time the not-for-profit was working in countries across the world, and depending on the Chicago operation to be a support and training center.
What did Audrey do all those years? She served on the Board of Directors and was their secretary for more than a decade. She supported the Fifth City Preschool for many years, helping in every imaginable way. On the north side she worked in a support role for the ICA’s national finance operations She helped document the years of Local School Improvement Planning in Chicago’s public schools. Audrey participated in the creation of Leadership Options, a two-week training in modern leadership methods. Just prior to the start of the first Leadership Options the director had heart surgery, so Audrey was part of a small group that made the program happen. She took part in ICA’s global meetings held every four years. The last one she attended was in ’96 in Cairo, Egypt. She was part of the Archives Angels, a group that drew together ICA archives from around the world and made sense of all that work. They produced a CD with select talks from our history. And the nature of what she could do changed – she helped the Conference Center vacuum and prepare for incoming groups; Audrey cared for the art work that covered all eight floors. And Audrey became known as the plant lady, taking tender care of plants on all the floors. In these days a few people began calling her ‘Saint Audrey’. At first she looked puzzled, then she smiled. She brought life to all of our space.
She helped with the gardening in the parking lot when the lot was repaved. The ICA received funding from the city and the state for recreating the lot as a model green space, using special bricks which allow rain water to go down to the water table. At the time of the dedication of the new lot, we presented Audrey with a brick engraved with her name in celebration of her many efforts to care for that space. One day while she was out working on the space around the lot, two small boys passed her by and then stopped to have an argument. They came back to Audrey and asked her if she was doing community service? Of course, she responded in the affirmative. The boys moved off again, but were in an even bigger argument before they got to the corner. They finally came back to ask her, “What do you do?” By sharing an image that you could choose to do community service (it didn’t have to be court ordered), that you could joyfully volunteer (it didn’t have to be punishment), undoubtedly changed the imagination of both of those young boys forever.
I would like to formally thank her family for sharing her with us for all those years. I want to share three things I can imagine Audrey enjoying.
* First, from a t-shirt – “If you aren’t living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”
* Second – Just remember, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything and the wrong way is to keep trying to make everybody else do it the right way. — From Colonel Potter in M*A*S*H* (Audrey came to watch MASH with me and my husband for a while.).
*. And third, I don’t know where this came from – Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely In a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, “Wow, what a ride!!!”
~~ Carol Pierce
My experience with Audrey goes back to the fall of 1968 when I was an intern. I taught an eight week-night RSI with Audrey in Naperville. Each Tuesday, I drove from the West Side to Naperville. She was a woman of formidable integrity. It was a felicitous experience teaching with her as first teacher. A woman with grace – ever saintly. Gratefully,
~~ Ken Fisher
Audrey was a dedicated fixture in the Town Meeting days on the West Side, an expert in writing grants for the 5th City Preschool, attended many overseas conferences and some HDP projects, and in her later years, one of the tenacious members of the Archives team, driving into Chicago each day from Naperville, well into her senior years. Even after her death, Joe continued to help finance the work of the archives in her memory. What a team! When we moved to Galax, they included Galax as a stop over heading back to Naperville after a trip to their St. Louis relatives. They even helped with a sidewalk sale from our Men’s Shop during the annual Old Time Fiddlers Convention. Their pre-teen granddaughter accompanied them. On several trips to Chicago to work in the Archives, I was privileged to visit Joe and family in Naperville.
~~ Lynda Cock