Obituary: Benjamin H. Ashman

MADISON - Benjamin H. Ashman, age 90, of 2107 Waunona Way, died on Thursday, Jnauary 20, 1983, at a Madison hospital. Born on March 3, 1892, in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, he was married to the former Mildred Duncan on August 15, 1915. Mr. Ashman taught at the former Cental High School in Madison for thirty-eight years and spent his retirement with his avocation, gardening. Survivors are two daughters, Marian Ashman and Margaret Huff, both of Madison; two sons, Thomas of Madison and Stephen of Mount Horeb; four grandchildren, Jonathan Wilde of Belleville, Phoebe Swenson of Mesa, Arizona, Laurie Hamilton of Wallingford, Connecticut and Connie Weiss of Madison; a great granddaughter; and several nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred in 1975; a daughter, Helen Wilde in 1966; a brother, Richard in 1969; and just recently, a sister-in-law, Erma Duncan. Memorial services will be ehld at the FIRST UNITARIAN MEETING HOUSE AT 900 University Bay Drive at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 19, with the Reverend Max Gaebler officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to either the University of Wisconsin Foundation for the Arboretum at 1207 Seminole Highway, Madison 53711 or the Wisconsin Phenological Society at 1922 University Avenue, Madison 53705. The CRESS FUNERAL HOME is in charge of arrangements.

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on January 21, 1983

Note: What is phenology? According to the Wisconsin Phenological Society Manual (2003), "Phenology is an interdisciplinary branch of ecology. Its purpose is to record the general development of plants and animals as affected by climate and weather at a certain geographical location." Use the links to learn more about the organization and its objectives.

The article below was originally published in The Capital Times on July 23, 1958. It was written by reporter Frank Custer, a Central alumnus (Class of 1931), who probably was one of Ashman's pupils.

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This tribute (below) to Benjamin Ashman and Florence Morris, both of who retired in 1958, appeared in the 1957 Tychoberahn.