Justice
of peace left lasting imprint
James
T. Ayers, who started as a justice of the peace holding court
in his basement and became the judicial administrator and
presiding judge of the Aurora Municipal Court, died April 15,
2008, at age 86.
In
1978, the longtime Aurora judge supervised the construction of
the first court building there.
Ayers,
who died at his Aurora home, was in the 1960s the first lawyer
in Colorado to be named a justice of the peace, his wife, Mary
Ayers, said.
Justices
of the peace — which no longer exist — were often people
picked from the citizenry, and were called "kitchen
judges," because they tried cases in their homes, Mary
Ayers said.
Ayers
served as a justice of the peace in Arapahoe County.
Ayers,
who also had a private law practice, liked being in the
municipal court "because that was where most people had
their first view of a courtroom," his wife said.
It
also meant Ayers could hand out a little free advice.
Years
later parents of children who appeared before him "called
to thank him for the way he talked to their kids," said
Mary Ayers.
There
were no judges' robes so Mary Ayers made one for her husband.
After
serving as justice of the peace, Ayers was named assistant
municipal judge for the city of Aurora and became chief judge
in 1966.
He
established the Aurora Municipal Court in 1970 and was named
judicial administrator, in addition to being presiding judge,
in 1978.
He
retired in 1986.
James
T. Ayers was born in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 5, 1921, the
family believes, although they have found a second birth
certificate showing his birth a year earlier.
"He
liked celebrating both dates," said his son, James T.
Ayers, who goes by Tom.
The
elder James T. Ayers' father, also James Ayers, died before
the boy was seven, so he and his mother, Mattie Ayers, lived
with relatives.
It
was the Depression, and Mattie Ayers had a hard time
supporting the two of them, Tom Ayers said.
Ayers
was often separated from his mother and sent to live with
relatives, the son said.
James
Ayers met Mary Porter in a speech class at the University of
Denver, where he was getting his law degree and she was
studying library science. They married on March 16, 1947.
Ayers
served in World War II and was able to attend DU with the help
of the GI Bill and a variety of jobs, including laying
concrete to make alleys, selling paint at a hardware store and
soldering metal milk cans.
"Everyone
in the family knows how to clean a paint brush properly
because Dad learned how in a hardware store," his son
said.
In
addition to his wife and son, James T. (Tom) Ayers Jr. of
Littleton, CO, Judge Ayers is survived by five daughters:
Kerry Cain of Colorado Springs; Maureen Browne of Parker;
Martha Susan Silva and Mariam Frawan, both of Aurora, and
Katherine Heron of Denver; 20 grandchildren; and six
great-grandchildren.
Art Prints in the Classical
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