Ayres

Melda Elizabeth Ayres, 59, of Prospect died Thursday afternoon in Butler Memorial Hospital.

Born Sept. 5, 1951, in Ellwood City, she was a daughter of Howard “Hoot” Stanford Sr. and Betty Jane Duncan Stanford. She married Richard T. Ayres, Jr., on Sept. 17, 1971.

She is a Slippery Rock High School graduate.

She was formerly employed by Lawrence County Head Start and Golden Hill Nursing Home. She was then employed with Concordia Visiting Nurses.

Melda enjoyed going to yard sales, fishing, woodworking and spending time with her grandchildren. She was a wonderful mother who was always caring and outgoing. Melda loved her dog, Duke.

She was a member of Church of Genesis.

In addition to her husband and her mother, she is survived by two daughters, Jennifer Ayres and her companion, Jim Turner, of Poland, Ohio, and Mary Jane Ayres of New Castle; two sons and their wives, Rich and Deanna Locke Ayres and Ryan and Nicole Reynolds Ayres, all of New Castle; three brothers, Howard “Hoot” Stanford his wife, Margie, and John Stanford and his wife, Debbie, all of Prospect, and Steve Stanford and his companion, Jessie Luce, of Butler; one sister, Lynn Hill and her husband, Ron, of New Castle; and seven grandchildren, Austin, Brayden and Logan Ayres and Derek, Arianna and Natalie Ayres and Hailey Fulkman.

She was preceded in death by her father.

<B>AYRES</B> — Visitation for Melda Elizabeth Ayres, who died Nov. 11, 2010, will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the <B>R. Cunningham Funeral Home & Crematory</B>, 2429 Wilmington Road, New Castle.A funeral service will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Rev. Ronald Eade will officiate. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery.Online condolences may be offered by visiting www.cunninghamfh.com.