Mr. Billy Joe Ayres, 71, passed away on January 19, 2017 at his home in West Point. Mr. Billy Joe was born January 12, 1946, in West Point, the son of the late William Joseph and Mamie Irene Edwards Ayres, Sr. He was an Elder at Riverside Chapel Baptist Church near West Point. He retired from the Mississippi Army National Guard as an E-6, retiring after 37 years of total service having served with the 223rd Engineering Battalion based in West Point. He served during the Gulf War. Mr. Billy Joe was the Statistician for the Mississippi State University Men’s Basketball Team for 42 years. He married Elizabeth Ann Gaskin on June 14, 1975, in West Point. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and friend.

Funeral services will be Saturday, January 21, 2017, at 2:00 P.M. from Calvert Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Jim Sallee officiating and assisted by Mr. William "Choke" Malone. Burial with Mississippi Army National Guard Military Honors will follow in Memorial Garden Cemetery West Point. Calvert Funeral Home of West Point is in charge of arrangements.

Survivors include His Wife Mrs. Ann Gaskin Ayres of West Point; One daughter, Amy Hunt of Columbus; One Son, Johnny Ayres (Kerri) of Sandersville; Seven Grandchildren: Mandy Trulove, Candice Poss, Garrett Dees, Andrew Robinson, Karoline Ayres, John Marshall Ayres, and Kerrigan Ayres; and Seven Great Grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Tim Horner, William "Choke" Malone, Jimmy Nolen, Norman Nevels, Cliff Stafford, and Bill East.

Honorary Pallbearers will be Bud Bowen, Jim Northington, All the Past & Present Members of the Mississippi Army National Guard 223rd Engineering Battalion, Dr. Ned Miller, and the Nurses and Staff of both the Home Health Care and Hospice of North Mississippi Medical Center.

Memorials may be made to Riverside Chapel Baptist Church Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 526, West Point, MS 39773.

Visitation will be Friday from 5:00-8:00 P.M. at Calvert Funeral Home.