Viva Ayers

KALONA ? Viva Ayers, 95, of Washington, died Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in the United Presbyterian Home in Washington.

A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, April 14, at the Peterseim Funeral Home in Kalona with the Rev. Darryl Carr officiating. Following the services, burial will take place in the Sharon Hill Cemetery in Kalona, next to the grave sites of her parents. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m., Thursday at the funeral home. A memorial fund has been established for the First Baptist Church in Washington.

Miss Ayers was born July 27, 1920, in Wellman, along with her twin sister, Vera, to Lake and Jessie (Lemley) Ayers.

She grew up in the Wellman and Kalona areas. She attended school for a few years and then remained at home to help her mother care for her 11 siblings and the family home. Her favorite fun thing to do was roller skate. She was a regular at the Wellman Roller Rink for many years and was a very talented skater. She taught all of her nieces and nephews to roller skate over the years when they came to visit their grandparents. She also enjoyed a good game of rummy or carom, and was skilled at putting jigsaw puzzles together. She was known for sharing her sweet spirit and smile with those around her. She moved to Washington in the early 1970s after her mother died. After a long life of working hard to care for others and doing her daily chores, she moved to the Brownlee Center at the United Presbyterian Home in Washington, where she had resided for the past few years.

Surviving are many nieces, nephews, and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; seven brothers, Faye, Floyd, Maynard, Eldon, Dale, Clifford, and Kenneth Ayers; and four sisters, Vera Peltz, Vivian Atkins, Hazel Raymond, and Helen Graf.