David Herbert Ashworth

David Herbert Ashworth - Born February 5, 1932, died peacefully on September 19, 2020, at the age of 88 in his home in West Chester, Pennsylvania. David will be missed by his loving family to include his wife of sixteen years, Kathryn Wuest Ashworth, his daughter Amy, son-in-law, Tim Kotlowski and grandchildren, David and Erik Kotlowski. David’s extended family includes his niece, Susan Ashworth, nephew Richard Ashworth, and his wife’s children: Ellen Reynolds, Meg Wuest, Richard Wuest, Susan and son-in-law Erik Lundquist, Donald and daughter-in-law Marlene Wuest; and grandchildren Marlo, Erin, Kathryn, Charlie, Mary Lu, Madeline and great-granddaughter Winter. David was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and moved to West Chester, PA where he attended West Chester High School, graduating in 1950. His high school yearbook described him as an “independent thinker . . . noted for laughs, smiles and moods. . . a staunch believer in combs . . . the John Barrymore of W.C.H.S.” Thereafter, he attended Swarthmore College, interrupted by a tour in the United States Air Force where he served as a weapons and navigation officer aboard the F-89 Scorpion during the Korean War. He returned to Swarthmore College and earned a B.A. degree in Economics in 1961. David continued to serve in the Air Force, including active duty during the Vietnam War and transferred to the Air National Guard in 1977. David retired from the United States Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonial in 1992. David spent much of his professional career with the Air and Space Division of General Electric, then Martin Marietta, before retiring in 1994. A former member of the West Chester Golf and Country Club, Dave was well-known in and around West Chester, PA. David spent his retirement golfing and developing his role as a beloved grumpy school bus driver with Krapf Bus Company until the age of 85. David was an avid reader and crossword puzzler, a maker of delicious pies, and a wine enthusiast. A foodie at heart, David thoroughly enjoyed traveling about the world and dining in fine restaurants, following professional golf and the Phillies, attending operas at the Met, and freely expressing his opinion when he considered you to be in serious error on any particular topic. David is pre-deceased by his parents, Walder Ball and Marion Hannah (Smith) Ashworth, his sister Virginia (Ashworth) Sternberg, his two big brothers Robert Walder and Frederick Ashworth, and his nephew, Robert Ashworth, Jr. David is also predeceased by his first wife, Joyce Diane (Schubert) Ashworth to whom he was married from June 21, 1968 until her death in September of 1991. Dave’s acerbic wit, quiet humility, and unfailing charm will be missed by many. He was a unique character who did not suffer fools and was fiercely loyal to those he loved. An overall decent human being, a life well lived, rest in peace, brave one. “The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one’.... (The man who first said that) was probably a coward.... He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing about the brave. The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he’s intelligent. He simply doesn’t mention them.” - Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms