Dr. Roy Ayres
Few would have guessed that the infant born September 20, 1919, to Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Ayres would grow up to be such a giant in career and technology education.
Dr. Roy Ayres was born and raised in Weatherford. During his childhood, Roy was very small for his age. That was especially apparent as a senior when he weighed only 115 pounds yet played football and wrestled. He graduated from Weatherford High School in 1937 after serving as president of his senior class.
Roy moved to Oklahoma City after graduation where he worked for a chain of variety stores. He enrolled at Southwestern State College in 1938, but he returned to the workforce following the death of his father during his freshman year.
He joined the U.S. Army in 1940 and graduated from officer training school at Ft. Sill in 1943. During World War II, he served in Panama, the Southwest Pacific, and ended his active military service in Japan. In 1943, Roy married Jackie Crider.
After the war, Roy re-enrolled at Southwestern, finishing his baccalaureate degree two and one-half years later. He accepted the post of distributive education instructor at Oklahoma State University, Okmulgee, where he taught for two years. He was recalled for military service for the Korean War.
In 1962, Mr. Perky offered him a job as state supervisor of trade and industrial education. He loaded up wife Jackie and his family of four children, Patrick, Cathy, Barbara and Joe, and moved to Stillwater. Jackie became a teacher at Stillwater High School. In 1969, she became ill, and after a long illness, died of cancer. In 1972, Roy married Fran Stoup, who lost her spouse to cancer in 1968.
Dr. Ayres was inducted to the CareerTech Hall of Fame in 1997.
