E. Carl Ashbury, 64, of Dows, passed away on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at home.
A private family service will be held at First Lutheran Church in Dows. A
scattering ceremony will be held in Bermuda at a later date per Carl's request.
Carl, son of Ervin C. and Mary E (Taylor) Ashbury, was born on April 15, 1957 at
the Air Force Base in Annapolis, Maryland. Since his father was in the Air
Force, Carl lived in West Virginia, Ohio, Texas, and Germany as a young child
before his family settled in Elkhart, Indiana. He graduated from Elkhart
Memorial High School in 1975.
After high school, Carl attended college at Indiana University before he moved
to West Virginia to work for his father. Later he moved back to Elkhart,
Indiana and started work at E.K. Blessings (bought by Conn-Selmer) where he
worked for 32 years. He was a skilled horn buffer and took great pride in
buffing the fanfare horns for the 1984 Olympics ceremonies.
In 2017, Carl moved to Dows to be closer to his family. He loved spending time
with his family and friends. Being near to his grandchildren was particularly
important to him and they brought him nothing but joy. He cared deeply for
everyone he met and accepted people exactly as they are. This made him a great
listener and counselor. He loved animals and shared his life with some amazing
dogs over the years. A cat named Oreo was his last animal companion. He was
passionate about learning and always wanted to be a special education teacher.
There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't try to learn something new.
Whether physically or mentally he was always up for an adventure, a thrill, a
road trip, or a good laugh. He loved that he passed on so much of himself to
his daughter and grandchildren.
In his younger years, Carl enjoyed bicycling, traveling, going on cruises, and
antiquing. He loved all music but rock n' roll was his jam. He loved muscle
cars and sports. Carl was a huge Notre Dame fan but we would be remiss to not
mention his love of the White Sox, Blackhawks, and Cleveland Browns as well. He
loved driving fast, great food, roller coasters, going to games, concerts, pro
wrestling events, cook outs, board games with his family and hanging out with
his friends. Any place there was something going on with people having a good
time that was where Carl wanted to be – looking and smelling like he just
stepped out of GQ magazine.
Carl is survived by his daughter Beth (Dan) Hurt of Dows; grandchildren Sydney
Burkholder-Nason of Forest City; Marah Burkholder of Cedar Falls, Ethan Hurt of
Dows, and Matthew Hurt of Dows; great-grandson Ivan Nason; sister Irma Gibson of
Gay, West Virginia; and many friends he loved dearly.
He is preceded in death by his father Ervin Ashbury; and mother and step-father
Mary and Ray Farley.