Marion P. Ayers, 92, of 18 Elm Street, Waterbury, passed away on
Saturday evening, May 1, 2010, at the Woodridge Nursing Home in Berlin
after several weeks of declining health. She was born on April 9, 1918,
to the late Archibald and Ruth (Macomber) Pratt in Morristown, Vermont.
She attended schools in Marlborough, NH, and Waterbury, VT, graduating
from Waterbury High School in 1936. She then attended and graduated from
the Mary Fletcher Hospital School of Nursing in 1939. She became a
registered nurse that same year and worked at the Windsor (Vermont)
Hospital until her marriage.
She raised four children, and after her last child was nearly through
school, she returned to nursing. She worked at the Vermont State
Hospital in the areas of general nursing and nursing education. She also
worked for the Waterbury Home Health Agency from 1967 through 1973. Her
last nursing job, and the one she enjoyed the most, was that of the
school nurse at the North Bennington Elementary School through 1979.
Marion married her high school sweetheart, Gleason W. Ayers, on February
22, 1941, at the Congregational Church in Waterbury. This year they
celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary.
Marion was a member of Queen Esther Chapter #7, Order of the Eastern
Star, as well as Emerald Rebekah Lodge #33, both of Waterbury. She was
active in her church and in her community, often volunteering her
nursing abilities at flu clinics and blood drawings. She was skillful at
sewing, making many of her own clothes. She also enjoyed crafts and
handwork. Her family knew her as an excellent cook and baker.
She is survived by her husband, Gleason W. Ayers of Waterbury; a son
Robert and his wife Judy of North Hero; a son Richard and his wife Mina
of Sanbornton, NH; a daughter Betsy Shapiro of Middlesex and her partner
Tom Gorton; and a son David and his wife Betsy of York, ME. She is also
survived by nine grandchildren: Bethany Goss and her husband David,
Kimberly Campbell and her husband Timothy, Jeremy Ayers and his wife
Georgia, Erika Nardini and her husband Brett, Benjamin Ayers, Emily
Shapiro, Christopher Shapiro, Sarah Ayers, and Halle Ayers; by five
great-grandchildren: Andrew, Tyler and Christopher Goss and William and
Laurel Campbell; and by a sister-in-law Dorothy Ingalls and nephews
Craig Caswell and Christopher Caswell. She was predeceased by her
parents and by her son-in-law Andrew Shapiro.
The family would like to thank Korin Johnson and her staff at the Maple
Grove section of the Woodridge Nursing Home for their many kindnesses
and for their care and attention during Marion's illness.
Funeral services for Marion will be held at the Waterbury Congregational
Church on Main Street in Waterbury at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, May 10,
2010. Visiting hours will be on Sunday, May 9, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the
Perkins-Parker Funeral Home at 48 South Main Street in Waterbury.
Interment at Hope Cemetery in Waterbury will immediately following the
service.
The family requests that flowers be omitted; rather, memorial gifts can
be sent to Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, 600 Granger Road,
Barre, Vermont 05641 (www.cvhhh.org) in Marion's name. To send on-line
condolences please visit www.perkinsparker.com.
