James W. “Jim” Ayers, 81, passed away on April 1, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the founder, former executive chair and CEO of FirstBank.
Born on November 19, 1943, in Parsons, Tennessee, Jim grew up with two siblings and parents who worked hard. His father, Paul, was a farmer who owned a sawmill. His mother, Wilma, operated a flower shop and managed the duplexes the couple owned.
A self-described entrepreneur from age 8, Jim’s first job was shining shoes for 10 cents a pair. At age 10, he was driving a tractor on the family farm putting in 8 to 10 hours of labor on the weekends.
Jim spent a summer at age 16 selling books, mostly Bibles, for the Southwestern Company.
Known as “Speedy Ayers” in high school, Jim was a lifelong sportsman, with a particular passion for duck hunting and fishing.
After graduating from Parsons High School in 1961, Jim majored in accounting at Memphis State University, working part-time, and graduating in 1965. In the mid-1990s, he partnered with a friend to buy the Farmers State Bank in Scotts Hill, Tennessee. Jim served as the CEO of the bank, and soon began adding branches. Later, Jim’s partner sold him his half of the business.
Jim went on to acquire the First National Bank of Lexington, Tennessee, and changed the name to FirstBank, where he served as chief executive officer before becoming executive chair of the board when he took the bank public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2016.
Through Jim’s strategic acquisitions, hard work and a commitment to personalized service, FirstBank’s assets skyrocketed from $14 million in 1984 to more than $13 billion today.
In 1999, as a way to give back to his hometown, he established The Ayers Foundation, dedicated to improving the quality of life of rural Tennesseans through education, conservation and social welfare.
Over the past 25 years, the Ayers Foundation Trust has worked to directly support more than 20,000 rural Tennessee students – helping each develop a plan to reach their goals, whether it be an apprenticeship, the military, a workforce certificate or a college degree.
Starting from a single high school in Parsons, the Ayers Scholars Program now has college access and success counselors working in and delivering outsized results for students in 33 high schools across 21 of Tennessee’s most economically distressed and at-risk rural counties.
His many other philanthropic activities included the establishment of the Ayers Institute at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, the Jim Ayers Medical Tower at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Ayers Children’s Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, and the Ayers Institute for Teacher Learning and Innovation at Lipscomb University.
Final funeral arrangements will be announced soon.
The Ayers Foundation Trust contributed information for this story.
