Bill R. Ayers

September 13, 1934 – January 2, 2016

Billy Ray Ayers, 81 passed away peacefully, January 2, 2016 surrounded by friends and family at home in Hanford, CA. Bill was born in Tulare County to William Mckinley and Zola Ayers.

Bill was a member of the Visalia Moose Lodge, National Rifle Association, American Quarter Horses Association and was an independent Landscape Contractor and owner of B&M Landscaping for over (50) years. He was an entrepreneur and enjoyed creating and managing home businesses such as B&M Wood Yard, Bill Ayers Bee Keeping, and Stallion Services. He had a love for animals and maintained a menagerie of horses, chickens, pigeons, doves, quoi fish, cows, pigs, and rabbits all on his three acre gentleman ranch. He was a “horse whisperer” and enjoyed breeding, birthing, breaking, and training them all. Many would say that he was an expert in Horticulture Practices. He had a very good relationship with his animals and you could often hear them calling out to him in their own ways when he approached the property.

It was not unusual to see Bill in the marketplace with his lil notebook. He had the unique ability to see something that he liked, make a few sketches and then go home and build it. He also enjoyed painting and his estate now proudly displays several of those paintings. He loved dancing, as his good friend Louise Collins can attest. They enjoyed visiting many of the local “Senior Dances”. These included many potlucks He was always the one who made a dessert or carried in a new creation of his own casserole. Bill also enjoyed hunting, camping, and fishing with family and friends.

He was a “well read man”, and even though his schooling was limited, he read anything and everything that taught him how to build, cook, paint, repair, and create the many things that he enjoyed and blessed others with during his life. Teeter-totters, Merry-go-rounds, toy airplanes, whirligigs, gourd artistry, metal sculptures, to name only a few. The cliché “Jack of all Trades” was embodied in Bill Ayers. He also attended the First Presbyterian Church of Hanford, CA.

Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Marguerite Ayers December 24, 2006, that he referred to as his “Treasure” and daughter Patricia Sigman April 29, 1987 parents, Mckinley and Zola Ayers, Missouri, five sisters, Mildred Dodd, Ruby Gann, Joanne Kemp, Peggy Coleman, & Sharon Lasswell and four brothers, Sammy, Lester, Jimmy & Donny.

He is survived by his brother, Frank Ayers of Dinuba, CA daughters, Arlene Walmer of Visalia, CA, Michele Sigman Ayers of Discovery Bay CA, Lori Ayers of Vancouver, WA sons, Billy Ayers of Newman, CA and Mark Sigman of Tulare, CA. Seven grandchildren, Joe Walmer of Portland OR, Athena Mullen of Fairfield, CA, Alexander Ayers of Newman, CA, Samuel Ayers of Newman, CA, John Ayers Flores of Vancouver, WA, Sommer De Freitas of Hanford, CA, Holly Sigman of Brooklyn, NY and seven great-grandchildren. He leaves behind a host of business associates, artists, relatives and friends who will miss him dearly.

Please view the Bill Ayers Memorial on You Tube in March 2016 and feel free to leave your thoughts and memories of “Bill” at that time. You may also contact daughters Arlene Walmer at [email protected] or Michele Sigman Ayers at [email protected]

Family and Friends are also invited to view Bill’s legacy at www.peoplesfuneralchapel.com and send condolences to the family.

Services will be held privately by family at a later date.

Services are under the direction of People’s Funeral Chapel.

PEOPLE’S FUNERAL CHAPEL

501 N. Douty Street

Hanford, CA 93230

559-584-5591

www.peoplesfuneralchapel.com