James R. "Dick" Ashpole, Sr.

James R. Ashpole, Sr., 95, of Clarion passed away Sunday, January 16, 2011 at Careage of Clarion in Clarion.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 AM on Friday, January 21, 2011 at St. John’s Catholic Church, 608 2nd Avenue NE in Clarion, with Reverend Nils Hernandez officiating. Burial will be at St. John’s Catholic Cemetery in Clarion. 

Visitation will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2011 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Ewing Funeral Home, 602 North Main Street, in Clarion.  Visitation will continue one hour prior to services at the church.

The family requests that no flowers be sent.

A lifelong Clarion resident, Dick Ashpole, passed away on Sunday, January 16, 2011, in Clarion, Iowa, at the age of 95. He was born on June 12, 1915, in Clarion, Iowa, the son of Earl W. and Agnes E. (Redden) Ashpole.

Dick grew up in Clarion and graduated from Clarion High School in May of 1932. He was an end on the 1931 football team that defeated powerhouse Mason City for Mason City's only loss. Clarion was undefeated and untied for the season. Dick was named as an end on the North Iowa First Team.

Following his father and grandfather Dick began work as a brakeman for the Chicago Great Western Railroad. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was honorably discharged in December of 1944. He returned to Clarion and worked for the Chicago Great Western as a conductor until he terminated his position on April 1, 1969. Subsequently, Dick accepted employment in the Maintenance Department at the Clarion High School.

Dick volunteered as a teacher's aide in the Clarion School System for 32 years with an emphasis on helping the students learn to read.  Some of the best years of his life were the close associations he had with students from elementary school to high school.

Dick was instrumental in the development of Clarion's annual event, "Festival in the Park". His idea of a "Day of Music" to utilize the gazebo being reconstructed in the park by Dr. Richard Young evolved into a community project that is now celebrated in June each year.

Dick and Dorothy Marie Olsen were united in marriage on June 29, 1941. They were blessed with two sons, Jim, in Houston, Texas, and Kenley, in Leesburg, Indiana. He is also survived by three grandsons and one granddaughter. He was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, on June 17, 2004. Dick was a devoted husband who cherished his family.