Name: Visitation for Robert E. Ashton Jr.
Start: 2019-07-12T20:30:00.000Z
End: 2019-07-12T23:30:00.000Z
Location: Heald Funeral Home - Saint Albans

Robert E. Ashton, Jr.

Saint Albans - Robert E. Ashton Jr. passed away peacefully on June 26th at the UVM Medical Center in Burlington, VT. He was born on May 26, 1934 to Robert E. Ashton Sr. and Dorothy Hemenway Ashton in Sheldon "Crick" Vt. He married Paulita Marie Ferland Ashton on September 5, 1959 in Swanton Vt. Paulita predeceased Robert on July 22, 2017.

Robert "Bob" was a resident of St. Albans Vermont for the past 59 years.

He was a 1952 graduate of Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans Vt. After High School, Bob served in the US Air Force for 2 years before breaking his hip in an auto accident, and then returning to Vermont where he attended the University of Vermont and obtained a Bachelor's degree in Engineering and then a Masters in English. Bob began teaching at Bellows Free Academy in 1960 where he dedicated himself for 50 years. During his time at BFA he was an English Teacher for 40 years, Chair of the English Department, the Athletic Director for 10 years, as well as a baseball, football, track, basketball, and golf coach. Bob was the driving force behind the creation of the Vermont Athletic Director's Association to which he was elected as President in the early 80's. He was a recipient of the NVAC Bob Pierce Award for outstanding service to the VADA. He was awarded the National Federation Citation for his services as Athletic Director. Bob was inducted into the Vermont Principal's Association Hall of Fame in 2005. He is also credited for assisting in the creation of the Collins Perley Sports Complex along with helping to start the very successful youth hockey program in St. Albans.

Beyond the facts of his life highlighted above, Bob is remembered by many of his former students by the connections he made with them. His desire to know you, challenge you and stimulate thought was his purpose in life. "ICDI - I CAN DO IT" was one of his favorite acronyms and an integral part of his message. If he could engage you, he felt he could get you to learn. Whether through reciting the alphabet backwards, while performing a headstand, or learning and singing the school song, his intentions were pure and driven by his love.

If there was one thing almost as important, it was attending each and every game. He will be sorely missed, but not forgotten.

Bob was also an avid golfer and a Member of the Champlain Country Club for many years.

He is survived by his daughter Roberta of St. Albans, his son Mark Ashton and his wife Lori and their children Eleanor and Benjamin of New London, NH and his sister Margaret Montcalm and her husband Joe of St. Albans.

The Ashton family will receive family & friends on Friday, July 12th, 2019, from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Heald Funeral Home, 87 South Main Street, St. Albans.

A graveside funeral service will be held on Saturday, July 13th, at 10:30 AM at the St. Albans Bay Cemetery, Lake Road, with family friend, Joseph Davison officiating. A celebration of his life will follow at the Collins Perley Sports Complex at noon on Saturday July 13th.

For those interested in contributing, a scholarship will be established in Bob's name. Please contact his son Mark Ashton at [email protected] for details or mail donations to 375 Little Sunapee Road, New London, New Hampshire 03257.

To send the Ashton family a written expression of sympathy or share a memory, please go to Bob's on-line guest book at www.healdfuneralhome.com.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Burlington Free Press on Jun. 30, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for Robert Ashton

Sponsored by Heald Funeral Home - Saint Albans.

3 Entries

Kirk Faryniasz

July 13, 2019

A super teacher, coach and motivator. Always encouraged me to reach for the stars.
One memory pops to mind. Walking to the NCAA Basketball championship in New Orleans, I hear a voice yelling my name. It was Mr. Ashton. Oh, my small world for a kid from tiny St. Albans to run across one of the finest English teachers to walk the halls of the ivy-Covered high school that I had attended. He encouraged so many of us to reach for our dreams.
Rest in peace Mr. Ashton.
Kirk Faryniasz Class of 1974

July 1, 2019

Spent some good times in his English classroom.

RIP Bob, Larry Bartlett (BFA '64)

Christopher Hill

June 29, 2019

My favorite memories of Bob Ashton are the office he shared with George Wood at the top of one of the stairways at BFA. There was an ornamental bird hanging from the ceiling with a sign hanging from it that read: "The Bird Of Paradise In Its Natural Habitat", my other one was when he would say to me upon reading something I wrote, "Hill, you take too many baths in your own wet emotions," but the twinkle in his eye gave away his affection for me and his other students. He was a good man, a caring man with a fine appreciation of the absurd, a healthy cynicism that challenged without wounding and who cared deeply about things. I, for one, am better off for having known him and for having had him as a teacher.

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