Emma Joan Ayres

Emma J. Ayres, 76, passed away peacefully on July 4th at Rex Hospital in Holly Springs surrounded by her loving family. Emma grew up in Newark, NJ, where she excelled in school and playing the violin along with her twin sister, Jessie. They even made it into the Newark Evening News as the “Tuneful Twins.” Emma was in the Girls Scouts of America through her senior year. She was a graduate of East Side High School in Newark, NJ. She worked for ADP for well over twenty years as a data processing manager. After the company downsized, she went back to college, earning a degree in computer programming. She moved on to bookkeeping for a small firm and later went on to become the financial office manager at Genesis Healthcare in Eatontown, NJ until she retired in 2005. Emma then relocated to North Carolina in 2009 to be near family. Throughout Emma’s life, she enjoyed many adventures whether here or abroad. Austria became her home away from home, as she traveled there often with her partner Kurt. His family became her second family, and she relished in those relationships until her last day. Stateside, Emma enjoyed her long-life friends and family, especially her sisters, Jessie and Madelyn. She was present on combined family trips and holidays, and looked forward to her yearly trip to the Poconos with the girls! She was also well-known for her dedication to our family tree, which lead to finding one of her long-lost nieces. She was cherished greatly by all of her nephews and nieces and will be missed more than words can describe. Emma was preceded in death by her parents, Madison and Edythe Ayres, her sister and brother-in-law, Madelyn and John Horn, and her partner, Kurt Fassold. She is survived by her sister: Jessie Layer, niece: Jacquelyn Levy, nephew and Godson: Jay (Amanda)Horn, nephews:: Madison and James Horn, niece: Amy Greiner, thirteen great nieces and nephews, and 4 great-great nephews and niece. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you kindly donate to a charity close to your heart in Emma’s name, as she was giving to everyone she ever met.

Emma Joan Ayres

May 6, 1947 - July 4, 2023