Arnold "Ron" Leslie Ayers Jr, 81, passed away of metastatic cancer Wednesday, July 28, 2021, at MorningStar Assisted Living. He was under the care of Hospice of Eastern Idaho. His time in hospice was brief and he was with his loved ones when he passed.

Ron was born in the fall of 1939 to Arnold Leslie Ayers Sr. and Doris Lotspeich in Omaha, Nebraska. His family moved to Ohio during the war but eventually moved to Bartlesville where his brother and sister joined the family. Eventually, they moved to Idaho Falls where Arnold Sr. worked the rest of his career at the INL site. Ron graduated from Idaho Falls High School in 1957 and went on to the University of Idaho. While at Moscow, he serendipitously made several dear friendships that would continue through today. He eventually graduated with double bachelor's degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering.

After a couple of years in Olympia, he married Joyce Hindman and they moved to Idaho Falls. They brought a daughter, Michelle, and a son, Hugh, into the world. Then he returned to the University of Idaho to attain his master's degree in mechanical engineering. Ron worked the rest of his career within the nuclear energy field, first with Ebasco Services in New York City until 1976 and then out at the INL site for different companies. While he mostly worked locally, his job included travel to Pennsylvania, Texas, and Kazakhstan. He was especially proud of his work in cleaning up the Three Mile Island reactor, and in later efforts to recover and store spent reactor fuel from around the world. In 2014, Joyce passed away, and he later married again to Clara Jacobson in 2018.

Ron loved to travel and often took his family on driving trips throughout the United States. His love for travel continued into retirement when he and his wife would visit national parks, wildlife refuges, and civil war heritage sites across the US. By the end, he had visited every one of the lower 48 states and Hawaii.
Ron was always a curious man who loved to learn. His hobbies included amateur radio (WB7VBE), military history, geology, paleontology, astronomy, space exploration, advanced mathematics, world religious philosophy, camping and hiking, singing, and many other casual interests. Ron also had a passion for teaching which led to him volunteering at the Museum of Idaho as a docent. He loved to show people the always-changing exhibits. On the rare occasions that he was not already familiar with the subject matter, he delighted in researching and making a binder of information to share.

Volunteering was important to Ron, he provided many hours of support to Trinity UMC, Hospice of Eastern Idaho, Soup Kitchen, FISH (along with Joyce), and many other organizations. Ron was well known for his beautiful voice. At a young age, he was a part of the All-State Youth Choir, and he made time to sing all his life. He was commonly found singing with a church choir, with his family, and even as a member of the local choir Anam Cara.

He is survived by his second wife, Clara; and his 2 children: Michelle and Hugh.

Ron would be honored by any donations made in his name to either: the Idaho Youth Ranch or Trinity United Methodist Church. A Celebration of Life is being planned for early October. Cremation is under the direction of Coltrin Mortuary, 2100 First Street, Idaho Falls.