Diane Stow Ayres, Fort Worth Magazine
Diane Stow Ayres, associate publisher of Fort Worth Magazine and its face for years in the philanthropic community, died Monday after a years-long fight with cancer. She was 69.
Diane was fresh off being named the Star-Telegram’s Salesperson of the Year before being recruited by Mark Hulme and Hal Brown as the magazine’s first employee in September 1998. She made the jump when the Star-Telegram was a behemoth, and Fort Worth Magazine was simply a concept on paper, with much fewer advertising opportunities compared to what is available today. Diane built and headed the magazine’s philanthropic interests in Fort Worth for years, serving on numerous boards.
Funeral is 11 a.m. Friday at Christ Chapel Fort Worth. Diane’s family requested memorials be made to Leukemia Texas; the Kupferle Health Board for its annual Puttin’ in the Pink fashion show, which benefits the Texas Health Resources Foundation and mobile care for women; or Christ Chapel Bible Church.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Diane Stow Ayers, who died early Monday morning, October 7th after a 14-year battle with Multiple Myeloma cancer,” Hal Brown, CEO of the magazine’s parent, Panther City Media, said.
“During her 19 years with the Magazine, Diane believed she had a responsibility to use her personal and professional resources to improve the quality of life of every citizen of our community, regardless of age, race, religion or socio-economic background. Diane helped build Fort Worth Magazine’s reputation of giving back to the community and supporting the causes that are important to its readers and advertisers.
“Diane not only championed the Magazine’s sponsoring of dozens of charity events; she took her involvement to the next level as a key member of the fundraising and planning committees for many of those events. Her efforts to bring awareness and support to so many worthy causes helped bring the Magazine into the homes and hearts of thousands of citizens of greater Fort Worth.
“The philanthropic community has recognized Diane many times over for her contributions, among them All Saint’s Episcopal School’s Saints Award, Cancer Research Foundation’s Torch of Hope Award, Shriner’s C. Victor Thornton Award, Cancer Care Services’ Face of Joy award, and, most recently, the Rosie Moncrief Wings of Hope award presented by a Wish with Wings.
“Diane’s passion for Fort Worth Magazine and her love of people was a major force in her life and the lives all of those who benefited from her work. Her door was always open to those who needed someone to listen, support and care about them. The contributions Diane has made over the years to the success of the Magazine are to innumerable to list and serve to support the philanthropic business culture she helped create.
“Diane was an extremely valued member of our team and will be truly missed.”
Diane was a mother to four — Sara, Emily, Ryan and Robbie. Diane was active in charities from when her children were young, taking on the massive role of chairing Mayfest in 1989.
In the early ’90s after a divorce, Diane, an avocational cook, opened a catering business out of her home. She was known to stay up all night cooking, take the kids to school the following morning, manage a catering event that afternoon, pick the kids up from school, clean up after the catering event, and start again that night.
Wishing for a normal schedule, her next job was as an assistant to the CEO of a local business, where her official title was director of fun. Needing to make more money, she made the move to advertising, where her friendly disposition made sales a natural fit.
“Diane is a relationship person,” Brown said in a tribute in the magazine this spring when Diane was honored by a Wish With Wings. “You have salespeople that sell strictly by the numbers, and you have others who sell by relationships. When Diane meets with a potential client to sell them advertising, because of her strong belief in the product and because she is someone they like and trust, signing the contract becomes just a formality.”
After arriving at the newly christened Fort Worth Magazine, the publication began receiving requests for sponsoring charity events, and Diane stepped up to bolster those connections. Over 20 years, she built relationships and became heavily involved with local charities. The magazine wouldn’t just sponsor nonprofit events by running ads for them, but Diane also volunteered to sit on countless boards and committees over the years.
For the magazine, Diane was still very much a salesperson, but she was also the person the publication depended on to strengthen relationships with charities and ensure the magazine was living up to one of its six core values, which is philanthropy.
“Diane was a servant,” Gina Wigginton, an advertising account supervisor and longtime friend of Diane’s, said. “A servant of God first, then a servant of her family, job, clients and friends. Diane never met a stranger. She had a genuine heart and cared deeply and passionately for those who knew her. Everyone Diane knew was her ‘best-friend.’ Many of us argued that we were her best friend. Diane had a way of changing the tone of a room upon her entry and presence. She had a gift of making anyone around her feel special. Diane will leave a legacy that will never be replicated.”
In December 2004, Diane was diagnosed with Stage 4 Multiple Myeloma. Brown and Hulme were “instrumental in their determination to save her life,” Wigginton says. “Diane would often say, I'm no-one without the love, support and opportunity Hal and Mark gave me."
After her diagnosis, Diane received alternative treatment at The International Bio Care Hospital in Mexico, followed by a bone marrow transplant in the U.S. in 2017.
Diane has received ongoing oncology care from The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and from UT Southwestern, which included radiation, chemotherapy, biological therapies and corticosteroids, to name a few. She has also been involved in three clinical trials.
Through all of it, Diane came to work and attended charity board and committee meetings, in good humor and more concerned with how others were doing than herself. She married Bill Ayres in 2013, eight years after her diagnosis. Bill was typically by Diane’s side at the numerous charity events Diane attended.
