Mildred (Harden) Ayers

Mildred Harden Ayers passed from darkness to light in the early hours of Thursday, August 6, 2020, at Brown Memorial Home in Circleville.  She was 97 years old.  Millie was born to Cecil Glen and Esther Wills Harden in Dalton, Georgia, on June 3, 1923, the second of eight children.  As the oldest girl, she eagerly helped her mother care for her younger siblings, and they loved her as their “second mother.”  Mille loved school; she was an excellent student and athlete (she lettered in basketball), and she graduated from Dalton High School in 1941.  Coming of age during the Great Depression, Millie sought job opportunities to help her family financially as soon as she was old enough to do so, setting in motion an enthusiasm for work and “being productive” that never left her, from her years in Dalton to later jobs in Circleville at L.M. Butch and Owens Illinois (from which she retired in 1984 after 18 years).  On May 7, 1945, Millie married Gerald “Jerry” Ayers and moved to Circleville after Jerry’s discharge from the service in 1946; they were together for almost 71 years, until Jerry’s death in April, 2016.  She and Jerry had three children, and from that time on her primary focus in life was the welfare of her family.  Millie was an active mother; she attended every event and helped behind the scenes in nearly every activity in which her children participated.  Even after she returned to the workforce in the 1960s, Millie remained a steadfast caregiver to her family.  She also found time to do volunteer work for the food of the community, and was a wonderful cook and baker, in later years becoming known for the many angel food cakes she donated for raffles and bake sales at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, where she and Jerry were members beginning in 1952.  Millie loved being a wife, mother and grandmother, and her children and grandchildren remember her for the unconditional love that she gave them.  Millie is survived by her son, Michael (Dawna) Ayers of Westerville, daughters Jodell Ayers (Tony Landers) of Roswell, Georgia, and Judy (John) Magill of Circleville, grandchildren Christopher (Lindsay Miller) Magill, Emily (Nathan) Eyen, and Benjamin Ayers, all of Columbus, and great- grandsons Preston John Eyen and Beckett Miller Magill, in addition to numerous nieces and nephews.  Interment was at Reber Hill Cemetery, with a private graveside for the family.  Memorial gifts in Millie’s name may be made to Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 310 East Main Street, Circleville, Ohio 43113.  Online condolences can be made to www.wellmanfuneralhomes.com.

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