Local Philanthropist Jim Ayers Passes Tuesday
PHOTO SUBMITTED/The Lexington Progress
Article by Steve Corlew
Local businessman and philanthropist James W. “Jim” Ayers, 82, the founder and chairman of the Ayers Foundation passed away Tuesday, according to Burton Williams Chief Executive Officer of the Ayers Foundation Trust.
Ayers had battled several health issues. He established Ayers Foundation in part to guarantee that no child from his hometown of Parson, Tennessee would be denied a college education due to lack of funds.
Ayers built his fortune with a very successful nursing home, a banking business, and insurance.
Ayer’s father was a farmer, a sawmill operator, and a logger who instilled in Jim Ayers the need for higher education. Ayers graduated from the University of Memphis (Memphis State).
Ayers built a successful nursing home business, he purchased Farmers State Bank in Scotts Hill and founded FirstBank, a bank that was headquartered in Lexington that grew to be the third largest bank in Tennessee.
The Ayers Foundation was established in 1999 and first offered at Riverside High School in Decatur County. It was expanded to Scotts Hill, then Perry County and later to Henderson County. Now the foundation’s scholarships are offered to students in 33 high schools across 21 of Tennessee’s most economically distressed and at-risk high schools.
“Husband, father, grandfather, businessman, banker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and friend to so many, Jim passed away this morning after valiantly battling a variety of health issues in recent years,” Williams said in a statement.
“A big believer in the Bible verse from Luke: ‘To whom much given, much is expected,’ Jim was determined to create opportunities to help others who came from his similar rural background,” the statement continued.
Many of his other philanthropic activities included the establishment of the Ayers Institute at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, the Jim Ayers Medical Tower at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Ayers Children’s Hospital in Jackson and the Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning and Innovation at Lipscomb University.
“A true Tennessee statesman and visionary leader, Jim was a guiding force in all that we aspired to do. He will be greatly missed,” Willams said.
