🌟 Resident Spotlight – April 2026 🌟

Ivy Eyre is the Resident Spotlight for April 2026.

Ivy was born in County Cavan, Ireland. She had one older brother and has two younger sisters and a younger brother. They used to complain that they never got to go anywhere, but are all in different countries. Her brother Roy, a farmer, died on the home farm in 2016. Her sister Emily lives in Nova Scotia, Canada; her sister Flo lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland; and her brother Bert, a police detective, now lives in Wales. Both sisters and all six aunts were all nurses.

When Ivy was eight, the Irish Evangelistic Band set up a tent on her father’s property and held services. The whole family became Christians through this ministry and later led a Prayer Meeting at their home. When she was thirteen, she had rheumatic fever while studying for a scholarship to high school and had to give up on being a nurse. She went to Dublin to study bookkeeping and worked at China Showrooms. Ivy and Emily shared a room, but there weren’t a lot of opportunities, so an uncle in Toronto, Canada, offered for them to move there to ‘make their fortunes’.

They met their husbands instead, at a prayer meeting for the trainees for the Church Army (like the Salvation Army, but for the Anglican Church). Ivy got a job as a secretary to a bank manager. When her husband John was born in England, he was transferred to Canada by his insurance company, then went into ministry. When he graduated and became a Captain (lay minister), they got married in Ireland, and he was given charge of three churches in a town about 100 miles north of Toronto, where Ivy led the singing and Sunday School, and cooked lunch for the bishop once a month. They also lived in Saskatchewan for a while, then tried to become missionaries with Overseas Missionary Fellowship in the Philippines, but age and health stopped them. They then returned to Toronto, where Ivy worked as secretary to the manager of Evangelical Publishers, and her husband went back to insurance. All of Ivy’s children were born in Toronto. Ivy’s husband’s insurance company transferred him to Atlanta in 1980, and they have lived there ever since. When her husband retired in 1999, Ivy and her husband volunteered with Ireland Outreach International, a mission group based in Dublin. Her husband passed away in 2013.

Her son Ian is a stuntman and filmmaker who previously lived in Los Angeles and now resides in Memphis. He has two children. Her other son, Roy, works in Bible translation and lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he has three children. Her daughter Elisabeth lives in Marietta with her husband and their cat. She previously worked in the insurance industry until she experienced health problems.

Ivy and her family went camping everywhere, with a soft-top pop-up tent trailer. They went to Nova Scotia a few times, which is 1800 miles one way. When her children were under three, she took them back home to Ireland by herself. In 1988, for a high school graduation and their last big trip together, all five of them spent 3–4 weeks in Ireland and England. They visited relatives in County Cavan and Belfast and saw where her husband had grown up in Kent, England. Along the way, they shared tea and cookies with half the people in County Cavan!

Ivy loves gardening and has a remarkable talent. She can grow almost anything by just putting a cutting in the ground. She likes working with her hands. Ivy and her sons put in a couple of walls and a door at their old house. Ivy and her Mom built a low stone wall in front of the house at her home in Ireland. She used to sew and knit and loves music and singing, especially hymns and old Irish songs. When they were on vacation or over Christmas, she often had a jigsaw puzzle out for them to work on. Ivy is known for her kind heart. She loves helping others and brings joy to those around her. She enjoys participating in community activities, especially Bible study and going on lunch outings.

If you or an aging loved one is considering moving to an Assisted Living Facility for Elder Care Services in Smyrna, GA, please contact the caring staff at Woodland Ridge today. 770-431-7055

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