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Submitted: 12/8/09 • Approved: 8/21/12 • Last Updated: 8/24/12 • R266454-G266453-S3
Born June 7, 1929, Russell, Russell County, Kansas.
Died December 12, 1999, Pineville, Izard County, Arkansas.
Daughter of Fletcher D. & Margereth Montgomery.
Married Charles Hubert "Hube" Ayers, June 7, 1971, Celina, Mercer County, Ohio.
White River Current
December 23, 1999
Alice Ayers, 70, founder/director of the Foodbank of North Central Arkansas Community Care Program, Inc, of Norfork, was found dead December 16, in her 1995 Buick Skylark in Izard County.
Mrs. Ayers was last seen by a friend in Viola Sunday. A search of the area by Baxter, Fulton, and Izard Counties began Tuesday.
The vehicle was spotted Thursday during an aerial search by the Baxter County Sheriff's Department helicopter. The vehicle was upside down in a steep ravine off of Highway 223, approximately 3.2 miles north of Pineville.
According to Baxter County authorities, the wrecked vehicle could not be seen from the roadway. If standing beside the road the vehicle could only be seen from a certain spot. No skid marks were found on the highway where the vehicle left the roadway.
Agencies assisting in the recovery efforts were the Izard, Baxter and Fulton County Sheriff's Offices, the Arkansas State Police, the Izard County Cororner and Calico Rock and Pineville Volunteer Fire Departments.
Ayers was instrumental in assinsting the Calico Rock Community Care food Program, the Manna House in Melbourne, and numberous other projects in Izard County helping families that are in need.
Following the big flood of 1982, in the Norfork area, Alice Ayers and her late husband, Hubert, began feeding the hungry. The couple opened up their home to flood victims and rescue workers and provided the soup and coffee.
Following the flood, Ayers contacted the Arkansas Rice Depot and the Second Harvest Foodbank Network to help establish an ongoing program to feed the community's hungry. One of Norfork's vacant school building became home for the program and operated for two years as a satelite of the Salvation Army in Mt. Home.
The Foodbank of North Central Arakansas was officially formed in 1985, with the sponsorship of the Norfork United Methodist Church. The food bank grew into a network of 60 foodrooms, senior centers, and on-site feeding programs in 14 counties over the next decade. Over four million pounds of food was distributed.
In 1990, at the Foodbank of North Central Arkansas/Community Care Program, Inc. was chartered as an independent not-for-profit corporation. It is a subsidiary distribution organization of Ozarks Food Harvest of Springfield, MO. Its mission is "to be of service to anyone in need."
The food bank also operates a thrift store that sells or donates clothing and household goods to many of the same clients.
Ayers was known as a fantiastic fund-raiser for the foodbank and in recent grant applications she wrote: "The Bible tells us that we will always have the poor with us (Matthew 26:11), but we find nowhere that it is written that the poor must always be hungry."
The work at the foodbank is done by seven employees and 120 volunteers. In 1998, those volunteers contributed more that 14,000 hours to the foodbank.
Friends of Mrs. Ayers discribed her as a caring person with lots of energy and determination packed in a 5-foot frame. She at 70, when most people retire, was out feeding the hungry and seeing to the needs of the communtiy.
The town of Norfork mourns the loss of one of its
most influential citizens, but the work she started continues. Volunteers began December 13, filling over 450 Christmas food boxes at the foodbak of North Central Arkansas in Norfork.
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White River Current
December 23, 1999
Alice M. Ayers of Norfork was born June 7, 1929, in Kansas. She died December 12, 1999, in Izard County. She was 70.
Mrs. Ayers was married to Charles Hubert Ayers and moved to Norfork in 1980 for Lake Placid, FL. She was the director of the North Arkansas Food Bank. She was a lay leader of the Norfork United Methodist Church and served as a lay minister and speaker.
Survivors include three sons, Dane C. Edwards and wife, Rosalind, of Geneva, OH, Lee Thomas Edwards of San Diego, CA, Neal Joseph Edwards and wife, Sandy, of Stuart, FL; three daughters, Sherry Edwards of San Diego, CA, Lynn Kellenbeck and husband Marc, of Grants Pass, OR, and Donna Edwards of San Diego, CA; one sister, Ida; 13 grandchildren; two great grandchildren; and several nieces and nepehws. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and two brothers.
Funeral services were held December 19, 1999, at Kirby-Boaz Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Bob Burto, Kay Burton and Reverend Chris Bounds, and Jeff Crawford officiating.
Interment was at Galatia Cemetery under the direction Kirby-Boaz Funeral Home of Mt. Home. Memorials may be made to the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas.
(From the files of Max Parnell.)
(Photo courtesy of Vera Reeves.)
Contributed on 12/8/09 by maxparnell
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Record #: 266454