Jessie Ayres
Throughout the course of his life, Jessie Ayres has used the written word to better the lives of those who surround him. After completing a successful journalism career that began at age seven folding and wrapping papers for his local newspaper, the Fayette County Times (Fayette, AL), the now 84-year-old resident of Forest Manor, Inc. in Northport, Alabama, went on to brighten his community by publishing a weekly gazette for his LTC facility.
"I noticed the age of all the residents here, and I thought it would be hard for them to read the small print of our weekly menu," said Mr. Ayres. "I decided to develop my own and enlarge it so they could read it more easily."
Indeed, Mr. Ayres has always employed his talents to enrich the lives of his community members. After returning from a World War II tour of duty; graduating from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, with a BS in journalism and minor in political science; and building helicopter actuators and missile controllers for the aerospace industry, he returned to his hometown roots to co-found a new local paper, the Times Record, from which he retired as Publisher in 1983. Although he covered many different topics throughout the course of his professional career, Mr. Ayres always ended his columns with an inspirational quote, such as "Life is not dated merely by years. Events are sometimes the best calendars," by Benjamin Disraeli.
"These quotes are ones I have lived by all my life," Mr. Ayres commented, noting that he still incorporates them into each edition of Forest Manor's paper. "I wanted to do what I could to make life more pleasant for my fellow residents. If I can make someone's day a little better, then my day is well spent."
