Aspen Ray McDaniel-Calhoun

Aspen is survived by his parents Cecil Calhoun & Yvette McDaniel-Calhoun, brothers Hunter McDaniel-Calhoun and Shea McDaniel-Calhoun, sister Ashley McDaniel-Calhoun, niece Spencer Grey Seidel, nephew Briar Adam-Lee Seidel, grandmother Francine McDaniel, aunt Elisha Hooper, cousin Kennedie Hooper, puppy Shiner and many more beloved family members.

He enrolled in the Early Deployment Program for the Marine Corps while attending Splendora High School. He graduated in 2014. He entered the United States Marine Corps at the age of 18 and served from 2014-2019 as an aviation electronics technician for Unit HMLA-469 in Camp Pendleton, California.

Aspen was a High Voltage Technician for B&B United Utility Service Company. He was excited to have found this company and a group of guys that he thoroughly enjoyed and planned to spend his career with this company. He had the utmost respect for his coworkers and considered them his friends.

 Aspen loved his family and always made a point to come see the family even when working long days and traveling for hours and always being out of town, he would come home and spend time with the family. His niece and nephew were his pride and joy, and he would expect them to be at his parents’ house so he could love and spoil them. He told everyone he was the favorite uncle.

To say Aspen loved his family is an understatement. He would be there in a heartbeat if he was needed. Just like when his Daddy was going to have surgery Aspen made sure he was back in town to be there by his side and during the freeze of 2021 and all the roads were iced over his sister was newly pregnant and scared to be by herself, he grabbed his Momma and Daddy said, “Let’s go I have a dually truck we can go get her” or when he found out his great grandmother was passing while he was in the Marine Corp and he flew in so he could be there before she left to heaven. He was cherished by his family. His Daddy was his best friend and would answer all his calls, his Momma was his biggest supporter and loved him with everything she had, Shea looked up to him and loved his sense of clothing style, Hunter would always have Aspen’s back no matter the circumstances, and Ashley was his person of reasoning, and he knew he could ask her anything and get her honest opinion.

He loved to work on his old 1991 Dodge Ram truck. He liked coming in from a hard day's work to crash on the couch and play video games with his friends on the PlayStation 5. He also enjoyed sleeping a lot when he was home.

Aspen was a private person. He loved children and they seemed to be drawn to him. He will be remembered for his quick wit and dark humor, for being kind-hearted and well-mannered, and for his generosity. He had a smile that you seemed not to forget simply because it just would light up the room as soon as he entered. He drew you in with the best and longest hugs. If he knew you needed it, he would give you the shirt off his back. He was a calm and loving person. He had an impact on so many lives, not just family and friends and coworkers, but anyone he talked to. He will most definitely be known for leaving a legacy of love with those who crossed his path.

When Aspen was in elementary school, he was tested for the GT program, and they told us that he was considered an underachiever. This meant he was smart but didn’t want you to know it because he would be expected to do better than average. This was not the outcome when it came to his job. Aspen felt like he had lived a more experienced life being from the military and then going into society. He felt the military had matured him and prepared him for the career field he entered, and he was proud to be a part of the same career that his dad had introduced him to. He was very focused, and goal-oriented and wanted to know everything about the field in which he worked. He enjoyed his career field even with the dangers that came with high electric voltage and liked to make as much money as possible, even while working long hours in harsh weather conditions. Aspen was organized and liked being known as the guy who had anything you needed to complete the job, which was reflected in all the Milwaukee tools he owned. He was mechanically inclined and liked to find solutions to difficult problems. If there was a problem, he wasn’t going to leave until he could figure it out. Aspen was always inspiring people to better themselves, like when he convinced his Daddy to follow his dream to go back to school with him and get his electrical engineering degree. This was something he wanted himself and his Daddy to do together or when his Momma wanted to learn to take photography and he paid for an online course for her to learn, he even went as far as asking his coworker to go back to school, so they could make more money.

Words will never express the love and support Aspen has shown to people and the countless lives that have been blessed to have known an angel such as himself. He is the epitome of love, kindness, and generosity and he was the humblest of people.