A funeral service for Don Ayre will be held on Friday, November 10, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at Countryside Christian Church in Kearney, Nebraska with Pastor Jeff Nielsen officiating. Interment will be held on Friday, November 10, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Axtell, Nebraska, with Military Honors provided by the Axtell/Minden American Legion Post #94 in conjunction with the United States Army Funeral Honors Team.
Donald “Don” Duane Ayre, 84 years of age, of Axtell, passed peacefully into the presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at his home on Monday, November 6, 2023, surrounded by his loving family. Don was born on December 20, 1938, in Gladwin, Michigan to Duane and Maxine (Stone) Ayre. Don’s parents divorced when he was a young child and he was then raised by his maternal grandparents in Gladwin, and later by his mother and step-father in Detroit. He attended high school in Flint, Michigan.
In 1961, Don joined the US Army earning the rank of Sergeant. It was while he was stationed at Fort Carson near Colorado Springs, Colorado that he met a beautiful and spunky girl, Anita J. Robinson, in the car next to him at Garth’s Drive-In. Sixty days later, on December 8th, 1962, Don and Anita were united in marriage in Denver, Colorado. To this union, four children were born.
After the Army, Don held management positions with Safeway, Skaggs, Gambles, and Gibson’s stores. This took the family on a nomadic journey, living a few years at a time in Colorado Springs, Sterling, and Fort Morgan, Colorado; Goodland, Kansas; and Ogallala and North Platte, Nebraska. When Don took a district manager’s position with Metz Baking Company, the family moved to Holdrege. In 1983, Don and Anita purchased a grocery store in Bird City, Kansas. While owning the Bird City store, Don started a food delivery business and purchased an additional store in Burlington, Kansas, and a restaurant in Melvern, Kansas. In retirement, Don and Anita lived at Lake Frances near Redfield, Kansas where Don enjoyed hosting and cooking for hunters during hunting season. After Anita passed away, he made his home in Axtell where his daughters and some of his grandchildren helped care for him.
The story of who Don really was hinges upon who Jesus Christ really is. In about 1964, a pastor from Calvary Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado presented the gospel to Don. Don put his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and was changed from darkness into light. This decision changed how he lived his life and he left a Godly heritage for his family and friends to follow after.
Don was a very compassionate and generous man, helping those in need and effortlessly associating with the lowly. He practiced hospitality to many people. He would give a perfect stranger the shirt off his own back, and then fix him a pancake, eggs, and bacon breakfast. He had a giving nature and knew no strangers. He thought the best of people, which sometimes led him to be taken advantage of, but he walked in forgiveness and never held a grudge.
He was a fun-loving memory maker. You never knew when he would break out and do something to cause a laugh or a smile for those around him. These spontaneous moments made for the best memories or camera shots. You may have found him getting pulled over in an empty parking lot for doing doughnuts on ice just to give his children the ride of their lives in the back of the family station wagon. Or, he was telling his grandchildren to take off their seat belts just before he accelerated over a certain rise in the road to give them tummy tickles. He enjoyed cooking for people and was very good at it. Memories were made from camping, fishing, taking children down the candy aisle, unlimited pop and bacon for grandchildren, or you may have gotten into a game of Pinochle with him. He was an elder at the Wesleyan church in Bird City. He also served on the city council and played Santa.
The challenges he faced when his young son developed leukemia, when his grocery business faltered, when Anita developed Alzheimer’s, and through the physically painful years of having arthritis and joint replacement surgeries were always met with an attitude of optimism and acceptance. Don was a resilient man in the face of adversity. He smiled through the most difficult circumstances. He made the best of every situation. He ran the race well.
The family wants to share a special thank you to everyone who helped care for Don, especially Clem, and Hilda; Jeff, Wendy, and Blake; Sara; Becky and Desiree; Brookstone Hospice, Lisa, and Amy; Julie and Meredith; and the Axtell Volunteer Fire Department.
Besides his parents, Don was preceded in death by his wife Anita in 2015, his brother Charles (Chuck) Ayre; and brother-in-law: Darrel Taylor.
Don is survived by his children: Annette (Jeff) Collison of Axtell; Sheila (Mark) Smith of Holdrege; Douglas (Jane) Ayre of Pawnee Rock, Kansas; and Dyrek (Blanca) Ayre of Hays, Kansas; 23 adoring grandchildren; and 21 great-grandchildren; two sisters: Arlene Taylor; and Debbie (Rickey) Fender; one brother, Harry Williams; along with a host of nieces and nephews, other relatives and friends.
A visitation will be held on Thursday, November 9, 2023, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with family greeting friends from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege.
A memorial has been established in Don’s honor, and kindly suggested to the Axtell Volunteer Fire Department.
Expressions of caring and kindness can be sent to the family at www.nelsonbauerfh.com
The Nelson-Bauer Funeral Home in Holdrege is in charge of the arrangements.