Austin Freeman Ayers

Austin Freeman Ayers 17, passed away on Sunday, October 5, 2008, due to injuries sustained during a long-boarding accident. He was born September 15, 1991, in Wheat Ridge, CO, and had lived in the Arvada area since age 2. Survivors are his parents, Munsey and Rebecca Ayers; a brother, Joel; a sister, Haley; paternal grandparents, Munsey and Mary Jo Ayers of New Boston, TX; maternal grandmother, Nancy Wallace of Denver; maternal grandfather, Gale Wallace, and his spouse, Joyce, of Silver Spring, MD; aunts, Laura Ayers of Minneapolis, MN, Cindy Edwards of Kansas City, KS, and Kelli Wallace of Denver; an uncle, Ruel Ayers of Denver; and numerous other relatives and friends. A nonconformist, Austin was fiercely independent and had a strong sense of social justice. He was an intelligent, inquisitive, and creative individual as well as a natural conversationalist with an innate ability to connect with others. He was a gifted baseball player who gradually replaced that passion with playing acoustic and electric guitar. Austin loved music and attending concerts with his dad. Austin was an enthusiastic learner in his junior year at the Bridge School in Boulder. Beautiful, charismatic, and full of potential, he was entering a period of his life in which he was demonstrating responsibility and maturity. His passing is a loss beyond measure for his family and many others whose lives he touched during his short time on earth. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 11, at the Arvada United Methodist Church, 6750 Carr St., followed by a reception at The Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made (in honor of Austin Ayers) to The Bridge School, 6717 S. Boulder Rd., Boulder, CO 80303, or to Urban Peak, 730 21st St., Denver CO 80205.