Alfred "Al" T. Ashby

Al’s memorial service will be 11 a.m., Friday, September 30th at the First United Methodist Church, 210 N. 2nd Ave. E. in Newton.     

The family will greet friends from 10-11 a.m., Friday, September 30th at the church.          

A private family burial will be held at the Bethel Cemetery in rural Lynnville, Iowa          

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials to the Willowbrook Adult Day Center or to the First United Methodist Church; the memorials may be left at the church on the day of the service or at the Wallace Family Funeral Home. Memorials may also be mailed to the Wallace Family Funeral Home, please add, Attn: Ashby Family on the envelope.

Alfred Thomas “Al” Ashby was born May 4, 1924 at the family farm home outside of Grinnell, Iowa to Henry Manderson Ashby and Edythe Roxanne Burnham Ashby. He spent his early childhood on farms in Jasper County, graduating from Grinnell High School in 1942. After working on the family farm for one year, he was accepted in the Naval Air Corps in February of 1944. He completed training to become a pilot just as WW II ended in 1945 and he was honorably discharged in October of 1945.

Al graduated in 1951 as a Mechanical Engineer from Iowa State University. He worked at Automatic Washing Machine Company for two years. He then joined the Research & Development department of the Maytag Company, where he served for 37 years, retiring in 1989 as Director for Product Design Engineering for all Maytag products. While with Maytag he was a board member for 15 years pertaining to Laundry Equipment Safety on the Canadian Standards Association and on the board for Canadian Gas & American Gas Standards Associations, receiving numerous industry accolades for safe utilization of gaseous fuel. Many of the benchmarks he helped develop are still industry standards today.

A member of the First United Methodist Church in Newton, Al taught Sunday School for five years and worked on various task force committees. He worked to start a Hospice for Jasper County and served on its first board as Chairman. He also served on the Willowbrook Adult Day Center board and was a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Active in Kiwanis, he served as President of his chapter and held district offices.

He enjoyed woodworking, duck hunting, golf, traveling and flower gardening. Al’s interest was piqued if something needed troubleshooting, a repair, or an improvement. He and his wife, Betty, enjoyed winter months together in Arizona for 22 years.

Al cherished his relationship with Betty; their 68 years of marriage continue to serve as a remarkable example to their family. He is survived by his wife, Betty; their three children, Carol Whitmore-Brenza (Bill) of LaJolla, California; Sally (Ed) Dunham of St. Joseph, Missouri; and Tom (Lynn) Ashby of Omaha, Nebraska. Five grandchildren also have special memories of Grandpa: Jeff Whitmore of San Diego, California, Kelly (Alex) Tommasino of Phoenix, Arizona; John Dunham of Redondo Beach/LA, California; Annie Ashby of Mt. Hood, Oregon; and Ben Ashby of Atlanta, Georgia. One great-granddaughter, Jade Whitmore of San Diego, California is also part of his treasured family legacy.

He was preceded in death by his parents, son-in-law, Richard Whitmore; two brothers, Harry and Robert W. Ashby; and a brother-in-law, Melvin Van Der Kamp.

 Service Information