William “Bill” Ernest Ashlock, 72, passed away March 10, 2012 in his home in the mountains of Ellsworth, New Hampshire not long after snowmobiling on the nearby Mt.Stinson.
Bill, the son of Marguerite (Herr) and Raymond Taft Ashlock, was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
During college he spent two summers working with the University of Iowa physiology team in Point Barrow, Alaska, designing electric transmitters and receivers for tracking black bears. Bill joined McDonnell-Douglas Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri after college, where he worked in the research and development laboratory.
He met his wife Joan in St. Louis while working for McDonnell-Douglas. He was later sent by the organization to work in Rome, New York for two years on side-looking radar at Griffiss Airforce base; the next five years he spent with Mohawk Data Sciences in Herkimer, New York. From there he came to Andover and worked at Compugraphic (now AGFA), and BOC Edwards, both in Wilmington.
Though devoted to engineering, he also enjoyed raising his two daughters with his wife in Andover. Always an advocate of computer use, he volunteered at South Elementary School to help set up their first computer lab and computer club.
After retiring, he started building an energy efficient house in Ellsworth, N.H. completely on his own. When not working on the house, he took time to enjoy all that the White Mountains have to offer. He was an avid dancer, music lover, hiker, snowmobiler, snow-shoer and skier. He also developed many loop antennae for low frequency transmission.
He is missed by his wife, Joan (Muskopf) Ashlock, who wants to express special thanks to all her neighbors in Andover who have shown so many acts of kindness, particularly Debbie and Joe Zahka.
He was the very proud father of Jennifer Ashlock (Baltimore) and Susan Ashlock (Seattle). He is also survived by his sister Annette Ashlock Stover and her husband, Philip “Jerry” Stover (Chicago) and their children Stephanie Stover Crocker, and Scott Stover.
ARRANGEMENTS: Friends are invited to his Memorial Service at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 17th at the Chapel of St. John of the Mountains in Ellworth, N.H. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Bill's name to the South School (Andover) "Gifts and Grant Fudn" for the advancement of scientific though or the Summer Music Festival at the Silver Center in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
