Julia Nerissa Ayers

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JULIA NERISSA AYERS
Nerissa Ayers, longtime La Mesa, CA resident, passed away in the Columbia River Gorge in hospice care on June 10, 2024 with family at her side. She was 89, born September 5, 1934, the youngest of five kids raised by single mom Chressie N. Paul in rural Riverside, CA among the orange groves.
Nerissa met Army veteran Jack D. Ayers, a Riverside Hardware employee on a blind date. She thought he was funny and adventurous. But Jack wasn't sure how that first date went, since Nerissa left early. Later that night, Nerissa's appendix was removed in emergency surgery. Jack and Nerissa married August 29, 1954. Jack was a smoker, but quit cold turkey after burning a hole in Nerissa's dress on their wedding day. They shared 68 married years, until Jack's passing January 4, 2023.
The couple graduated from San Jose State together, then moved to San Diego, CA, where Jack worked as a mechanical engineer, and Nerissa taught elementary school for San Diego City Schools for 27 years. First grade was her favorite to teach - she saw the most growth in those first graders. Nerissa brought the country to her inner-city classroom, with a saddle to ride, a fuzzy bunny to snugggle, and parakeets and finches who sang to students.
The Ayers family grew in rural east San Diego County and together with kids Jerry and Barbara, they rode horses and motorcycles, surrounded by farmland, open space and a family creek. They camped in the desert with friends and waterskied on Mission Bay, pulling their ski boat through Mission Valley cow farms when Interstate 8 was a two-lane highway, before San Diego became America's 8th largest city.
The family took summer camping trips across the western US, Canada, Mexico, and Alaska, favoring the Sierras, the Redwoods, the Cascades, National Parks, coastal and Forest Service campgrounds.
Nerissa was a bit of an Annie Oakley type, protective of her feathered flock. One summer, a duck per night began disappearing and she suspected a coyote or fox, so she and her young daughter camped in backyard creek bed, Nerissa with a rifle at her side. They startled awake one night, with a skunk at the foot of the sleeping bag. Their shrieks scared the skunk off, and it ran all the way uphill to the house, and hunkered down under the bed where Jack slept. Annie Oakley Nerissa stormed upstairs and scared the skunk off, thankfully without a stinky spray.
Nerissa's hobbies: rock hounding, collecting shells and petrified wood, quilting and yard work.
Nerissa is survived by daughter Barbara Ayers, CEM® of Mosier, OR, son Jerry Ayers, M.D. (wife Danya) of Escondido, CA, grandchildren Katie and Cort Ayers of San Diego, dog Zori and grand dogs Doodle, Nacho, Teddy, and Aubrey. Also, relatives, friends and in-laws, including Mel Harrah, Carol Jones, Larry and Jeanne Ayers, Susan Richardson, Bob and Carolyn Ayers, Susan Hampton, Cindy Darling, the Gellers, the Martins and the Overturf and Harrah boys. Nerissa was pre-deceased by her siblings, E.D. (Earl) Paul, Ester Harrah, Tiny (Chressie) Overturf and Lea (Leatrice) Yonker.
Nerissa didn't want a ceremony, but wanted her ashes to ride the breeze of this land we love. She was thankful for the people and animals who shared her journey, and excited to reunite in heaven with her beloved Jack.
Memorial suggestions: hug a kid or a dog, donate to a park, forest, or your favorite school charity.
Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson's Tribute Center • 1401 Belmont Avenue, Hood River, Oregon 97031. Visit www.AndersonsTributeCenter.com to leave a note of condolence for the family.
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