Dr. E. Glenn Ayers Jr.

Obituary of Dr. E. Glenn Ayers, Jr.

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Dr. E. Glenn Ayers, Jr. was born on August 31, 1930, in a Presbyterian manse in Derita, NC. He was the son of Ernest G. and Banna Linker Ayers. He died on August 22, 2025, at the age of 94. We, Glenn's family, are thankful for his long life and good health, and are grateful to have had him for so long.

As times were tough in 1930, Glenn's parents made the decision to move their family from the big city of Charlotte to the Ayers family farm in rural Robeson County, where Glenn spent the first few years of his life living among extended family. Though Glenn's parents moved the family to Dillon, SC while Glenn was still a young child, he always kept one foot on the farm, spending summers, weekends and holidays there, growing close to his cousins, his aunts and uncles and always helping the family to bring the tobacco in at harvest time.

After high school in Dillon, Glenn went to Wofford College, graduating with a degree in Economics. He enlisted in the US Army in 1952, serving for a year in Korea, and resigning as a Captain before he moved to Columbia where he earned his master's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina. A few years later, he earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kansas.

In Columbia, Glenn met an energetic young woman named Laura Ellington in front of Caldwells Cafeteria. In time, Glenn and Laura married, and became the parents of four children, Ernest of Seattle, WA, Alice (Luis Cabrera) of Brisbane, Australia, Anne Fanatico (Mark) of Boone, NC, and Michael (Tracy) of Whiteville, NC. As the years went on, they were thrilled to become grandparents to Laura and Nicole Fanatico, Cristina and Kittrell Cabrera-Ayers, and Eric Ayers.

Glenn and Laura made their lives in Sumter SC, where Glenn worked as the Program Director and Chief Psychologist for the Sumter Clarendon Mental Health Clinic in Sumter and led the development and establishment of the Santee Wateree Mental Health Center. He retired from the Center and continued a private practice until 2006. Civically, he was involved in the Kiwanis Club, the Salvation Army, the Samaritan House, the Sumter County Mental Health Association, the Special Needs Board of the Department of Mental Retardation, the Fortnightly Club, and the Sumter Rotary Club, where he was on the Board of the Pastoral Counselling Center. He was a member of the American Psychological Association, the South Carolina Psychological Association, SC Psychologists in Professional Practice, and the ethics committee of the SC Board of Examiners in Psychology.

As befitting someone who was born in a Presbyterian manse, raised in the Methodist church, and confirmed in the Episcopal church in his 50s, Glenn has always viewed his faith as a journey. In Sumter, he worshipped at The Church of the Holy Comforter, where he served as a vestry member and past Junior Warden. He later re-joined Trinity United Methodist Church where Laura is a member. While at Holy Comforter, he chaired the Community Relations Committee, and as a member of the church's outreach efforts, helped establish a program to augment the Soup Kitchen of Emanuel Methodist Church, providing bag lunches for weekend meals for Soup Kitchen recipients.

If you knew Glenn, you this about him: he was the kindest person you could ever meet, a remarkably non-judgemental person. He listened well, responded thoughtfully. In his heart, he accepted people as they were, and it was only by example that he encouraged others to be better.

Glenn also had a gentleness about him, a graciousness. He was a bona fide Southern gentleman and carried that with him wherever he went. When he visited his daughter who was living abroad, her friends were amazed by his slow Southern drawl, by his natural, unforced courtesy, by his mastery of the gentlemanly art of hat-wearing, and by his seersucker suit, something they had never seen outside of the movies.

Besides his wife, his children, his sons and daughter-in-law, and his grandchildren, Glenn is survived by his younger sister, Jean (Jim) Skidmore of Montreat, N.C., in-laws Chris Ellington Mark and Jerry Mark, sister-in-law Vivian Ellington, numerous nieces and nephews, and by beloved family members in Charlotte.

Burial will be private.

A private service will be held by the family at a later date.

Memorials may be sent to The Hourly Workers Gift Fund (HEGF) at Covenant Place, 2825 Carter Rd, Sumter, SC 29150, The Bag Lunch Program at Holy Comforter Anglican Church, 213 North Main St., Sumter, SC, 29150, or Trinity United Methodist Church, 226 West Liberty St., Sumter, SC, 29150.

Online condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals.com

Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad Street, Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements (803) 775-9386.