William Biddle Ayars

William (Bill) Biddle Ayars, 91, of Apex, NC passed away February 11, 2025 at the SECU/UNC Hospice House in Pittsboro, NC. Bill was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was the son of the late Lewis and Elizabeth (Biddle) Ayars.

Bill received a B.S. in Forestry from Syracuse University and then his Master’s Degree from Oregon State. He served as a Forest Ranger in Oregon where he engineered new roads throughout forest populated areas. After marrying his first wife, Albina Rose, they moved to Bakersfield, California where he became a professor of business at CALSTATE Bakersfield. Always the educator, he went on to receive his Ph.D. from Purdue in Indiana. Bill served honorably in the US Navy in a capacity that allowed him to keep his Quaker faith of to do no harm. His missions, many times were of top security and ones that could not be shared and which he never did, not even with his family after he no longer was an enlisted serviceman.

Bill was proud to have earned the title of an Eagle Scout in his younger years and from that he became an avid volunteer at nursing homes/assisted living facilities throughout the Triangle playing the piano as one-half of “Airs by Ayars” with Pam. He also volunteered at WakeMed Cary Hospital where he played piano in the cafeteria and during Christmas week each year in the Registration area. He was raised in the Quaker faith but after marrying his wife Pam they he began attending the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church in Cary, NC with her. There he volunteered as an usher for many years and belonged to the Kirk Men’s Group. Strong in his belief of peace, he volunteered to write letters for the organization Amnesty International for people wrongly imprisoned throughout the world.

He and his wife Palma (Pam) Cipriani Ayars have been married for 24 wonderful years. They were married at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico on the Fourth of July, 2021. Bill is survived by his wife, Pam and her children: Ann Bonitatibus (Glenn Moxley) of Boonesboro, MD; Andrea McMullen (Greg) of San Diego, CA; and Carla Willow with grandchildren Emily and Lauren Willow of Farmington, NY. In addition, he is survived by his sister, Marjorie (Peggy) Laidman of Jamesville, NY; brother-in-law John Cipriani and the widow of recently deceased brother-in-law Dom Cipriani (Joanne) both of Erie, PA; stepchildren from Sylvia Ayars; and many nieces, nephew and cousins.

Bill was predeceased by his three sons, (Lew, Randy and Ric) who were tragically lost in an automobile accident and then years later he lost their mother and his former wife, Albina Rose Ayars. Afterwards Bill began working with the University of Maryland and taught at military bases around the world. Later Bill would marry a second time to wife, Sylvia Scharry only to later lose her in death in 1998.

A private inurnment will be in the Kirk of Kildaire Columbarium. The family will recieve friends at a Memorial Service for Bill on Saturday, March 1st at the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church, 200 High Meadow Dr.,Cary, NC 27511.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of William Ayars to: The Kirk of Kildaire Endowment Fund, 200 High Meadow Dr, Cary, NC 27511.

Memorial tributes and messages of sympathy can be left by clicking the “Add a Memory” box below. Brown Wynne of Cary is honored to serve the Ayars family.