Mrs. Carrie Lee Audis Nichols Jayroe, age 99, went to be with her Lord and Savior on December 8, 2018, at Hickory Cottage at the Winston County Nursing Home in Louisville, MS. We will celebrate her life and love for the Lord on Thursday, December 20th, at 11:00 A.M. at Porter Funeral Home in Louisville, MS with the Reverends Mike Childs and Junior Davis officiating. Visitation will be on Wednesday, December 19th from 4:00 to 7:00 P.M. and on Thursday from 10:00 A.M. until time of the service at the funeral home. Interment will be at Memorial Park Cemetery after the service.
Lee Audis was born in Winston County on August 17, 1919, to William A. and Maggie Lee Reed Nichols. She lived most of her life here in Louisville except when she moved to Columbia, South Carolina and St. Augustine, Florida, with her husband while he was in the military. Her passion for most of her life was making people beautiful. She became a beautician when she was about 18 years old and went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Cosmetology. Lee Audis was a beautician for over 80 years and had her own shop for most of that time. She had shops above the old Strand Theater and Winston Furniture Company but opened one in her home on West Main Street after her daughter was born. She was Louisville’s oldest living and active business owner until October 2018 when she moved to the nursing home and her shop was closed.
To her customers, she was a best friend, a physician, a counselor, a lawyer, a real estate broker and really whatever they happened to need the day they came to get their hair fixed. She helped them solve all their problems, but little did they know they provided therapy for her as well. She often talked about “rolling her troubles up in their hair!” Lee Audis was instrumental in getting beauticians in Mississippi organized under the Mississippi State Cosmetology Board after she worked in Florida and saw the benefits of uniting under a centralized organization. She was a faithful member of First Baptist Church and served on the building committee when the new church was built. She taught first grade Sunday School at First Baptist for over 54 years. She had many earthly accomplishments, but most of all, she was a Christian witness to everyone she knew and met. She loved her Lord and wanted everyone to be saved.
Lee Audis was married to Leroy Foster Jayroe on July 1, 1936, and they raised two children, Linuel Duane Jayroe and Linda Joy Jayroe Pepper. Lee Audis taught her children the value of education and to love the Lord. Both Linuel and Linda went on to get their doctorate degrees and Linuel was a lay minister for many years. Lee Audis was an amazing, self-made woman who was constantly trying to help others and share the love of Christ wherever she could. She ministered to her customers and friends in their times of need. She took church literature to shut-ins even in her late 80’s and early 90’s as long as she could drive. She took care of her mother and father and her two sisters during their long illnesses and through their deaths. She also cared for her husband for several years until he died with Alzheimer’s in 1995. She will be dearly missed by her family, friends and community.
Lee Audis is survived by her two children, Linuel Duane Jayroe (Dianne ) and Linda Joy Jayroe Pepper (Tim). She has four grandchildren, Will Jayroe (Missy), John Jayroe (America), Chris Cournoyer (Lucy), and Lauren R. Foreman (Benji). She has two step-grandchildren, Justin Pepper (Anna) and Eden Pepper. She was blessed with several great grandchildren - Carter Jayroe, Josh Jayroe, Lydia Jayroe, Jake Cournoyer, Owen Cournoyer, Jack Foreman and Beau Foreman. She also had two step-great grandchildren, Wilson and Anna Grace Pepper . She is preceded in death by her mother and father, Will and Maggie Nichols; her husband of 58 years, Leroy Foster Jayroe; and her two sisters, Ivery Mae McDowell Pugh and Lavernas Jordan.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Baptist Children’s Village and French Camp which were two of her favorite organizations.
