Edward G Ayres

Ed was born April 21, 1937 in Cleveland, OH. He went to be with the LORD after an 8-month battle with pancreatic cancer on March 4, 2018 at 3:16 pm.

Ed served in the United States Marine Corps, being honorably discharged on June 27, 1967 as a Lance Corporal. Ed then worked for Procter and Gamble for 33 years, retiring in 1994.

Ed is survived by his wife of 53½ years, Bonnie Ayres of Madeira Beach, FL; sons, Michael and Julie Ayres and their children, Caitlin, Alannah, Logan and Parker of Medina, OH and Douglas and Melissa Ayres and their children, Amelia and Ryan of Monterey, CA and sister, Sharon Bellak of New Port Richey, FL.

A Funeral Service will be held 10:30a.m Friday, March 16, 2018 with Pastor Jerry Lancaster officiating at

Starkey Road Baptist Church, 8800 Starkey Road, Seminole, FL 33777. A Committal service will be held immediately following the service at Garden Sanctuary Cemetery, 7950 131st Street North, Seminole, FL 33777. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made in his name to the Starkey Road Baptist Church building fund (address above).

Testimony of Edward Ayres (in his own words):

I was saved at the advanced age of 30. I say advanced because I’ve heard that 85% of Born Again Christians were saved by age 18. When I was saved, Bonnie and I had been married for 3 years and our first child was 3 months old. When I look back on it, I feel that I really should have come to the Lord many years before I actually did. I was brought up in Cleveland. My parents were members of a local Methodist church and always took me to Sunday School. We moved crosstown when I was 12 and we then attended a Lutheran church. I again was a regular at Sunday School and even went through Confirmation class as a teenager. In college I was not a church goer but I attended church when I was at home. In total, I had received considerable instruction in the Bible, but in retrospect, either the concept of individual, personal salvation was not taught in those two churches or I had been paying a lot less attention than I thought. I was convinced that I was right with God and on my way to Heaven because Jesus died for the sins of the world and that meant everybody. At least, that was my understanding then.

So, by the time I was in my late 20’s, Bonnie and I were married and living in suburban Cincinnati. We started attending a little Baptist church in the nearby town of Madeira where Bonnie’s parents and then Bonnie had recently been saved. But I was a stubborn holdout, thinking that all my earlier instruction should be good enough for me. Soon though, good preaching in that little church taught me that salvation was not given to everyone, but was an expression of God’s grace to an INDIVIDUAL who comes humbly to the Lord. I learned that Jesus died in MY place, that He bore the penalty of MY sins and that I needed to confess Him with my mouth and ask Him to be My Savior. Standing in the pew at invitation time one Sunday morning, I placed my full faith in Jesus for my personal salvation and I asked Him to save me. I’m sure He did. Bonnie and I were baptized the following month. The Lord has worked in our lives ever since we were saved. Not long after that, as a result of a particularly inspiring sermon on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as it pertains to what we put into our bodies with Him, I came home from church and threw out my small supply of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, never again to have even a single urge to use them.The chain has continued through my family, and now both of our boys and their wives and all 6 of our grandchildren are saved. Bonnie and I are quiet people, so I’ll tell you a little bit about me with this story: I was single and had been with Procter & Gamble for 2 years when I was assigned to spend 9 months learning P&G’s cost accounting procedures, after which I would become manager of cost accounting at one of P&G’s U.S. plants. The first part of training was to work in the cost accounting office of one of the Cincinnati plants for 2 ½ months. Upon my arrival there, a large group formed to welcome me with handshakes and greetings. Part way through, I noted that one member of the group was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I overheard someone call her “Bonnie”. When I met Bonnie to shake hands, half of my brain was occupied with her beauty while the other half was trying to recall the words of a popular song of the day entitled “Bonnie Jean”. She greeted me and since my total brain was otherwise engaged, all I could manage to blurt out was, “Is your middle name Jean?”. That stopped group conversations for a few moments. What you can tell about me from this is that I can be distracted, and, if I must speak publicly, I had better have copious notes. Also, you learn that I have good judgement --- Miss Bonnie Jean (yes, that was her middle name) and I were married 7 months after we started dating, and we have been happily married now for more than 53 years.

Ed’s favorite verse: John 20:31 But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name.

Throughout all this John 3:16 has renewed special significance to us: For GOD so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Arrangements were made under the direction of Garden Sanctuary Funeral Home, 7950 131st Street, Seminole, FL 33776 / 727-391-0121.