Bonnie Jean Ayres

Bonnie Jean (Cox) Ayres, of Old Union, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family, on Tuesday, October 2, 2012. She was 77. Visitation will be Thursday, October 4, 2012, from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. at the Groesbeck Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, October 5, 2012, at the Word of Life Family Worship Center with her son, Pastor Randy Ayres officiating. Music will be by her granddaughter, Stacy Duffield, and burial will follow in the Old Union Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Lance Pollard, Mookie Wallace, Pete Crab, Jason Platt, Jerry Gilliam, and Randy Ayres, Jr. Bonnie was born September 5, 1935, the only child of Douglas O’Neal Cox and Flossie Opal (Crabb) Cox in Groesbeck. She attended school in Thornton and later Groesbeck, and graduated from Groesbeck High School, Class of 1954. Bonnie was united in marriage with Elbert Elton “Shorty” Ayres on her eighteenth birthday. They lived at Old Union after their marriage, and although they lived in other towns while he worked offshore, Old Union was their home most of her life. She was a housewife and mother. She was a member of the Word of Life church in Groesbeck. Her primary love in life was her grandchildren. Bonnie was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband Elton “Shorty” Ayres, in 2008. She is survived by her son, Ronnie Ayres of Thornton; daughter, Sandra Gilliam of Thornton; son and daughter-in-law, Randy and Linda Ayres of Thornton; daughter, Patricia Ross of Thornton; son and daughter-in-law, Eddie and Sherri Ayres of Buffalo; and daughter, Gala Hill of Thornton; 14 grandchildren; and 14 great grandchildren.