Gene was the 6th child born to Henry Lee ASHLEY and Hattie Violet CRONE ASHLEY. Hattie was very ill with kidney problems and knew she might die. She was especially close to her sister-in-law Ruth VICKREY ASHLEY & husband Will and asked them to care for her baby if she did not survive. Hattie died three hours after Gene’s birth. Henry had 4 motherless children, plus a daughter who died, and adding an infant would every difficult, so Ruth & Will were welcomed foster parents. When Gene was five days old he made the 20 mike trek to Park Place where he was welcomed by his cousins, the 10 yr old twins Jack & Marjorie. Throughout his childhood he often visited with his family & spent summers in Dayton, but it was easy to go back to Park Place and the big house where he was fussed over by Aunt Ruth who adored him. They treated him their own child. He even inherited their home.
After Gene graduated from Milby High School, he went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone on 3/Feb/1950. On Pearl Harbor Day of that year (7/Dec/1950) he was drafted into the US Army and sent to Korea. He was the supply sergeant for the anti-air craft unit. He would drive his jeep into Soul abt 3 times a week, hunting up things, mostly light bulbs. They had rigged up a little generator that was so erratic that it quickly ruined light bulbs. Everyone wrote home for them too, but they usually arrived broken.
Gene was discharged in Nov 1953 & returned home to work for Southwestern Bell until his retirement 1/Jun/84. He worked in many areas, ie. lineman, cable splicer, installer, but he was also a major Union worker. The phone company had 75 Union jobs. Those people could be gone whenever they wanted for union duties & the Union paid them, but they remained on the company payroll for benefits, holiday, and work pay (when they worked, and Gene said he seldom worked). From 1968-1975, Gene served as substitute president & vice-president of various locals, and ended his career as Assistant of the President.
Gene never married. He enjoyed drinking (Ashley trait!) and this increased in the solitude of retired bachelorhood. He died of advanced cirrhosis of the liver at Southeast Memorial Hospital 11/Apr/95. His funeral service was held at the Houston Memorial Veterans Cemetery, where he was also buried.
Military Information: SFC, US ARMY
After Gene graduated from Milby High School, he went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone on 3/Feb/1950. On Pearl Harbor Day of that year (7/Dec/1950) he was drafted into the US Army and sent to Korea. He was the supply sergeant for the anti-air craft unit. He would drive his jeep into Soul abt 3 times a week, hunting up things, mostly light bulbs. They had rigged up a little generator that was so erratic that it quickly ruined light bulbs. Everyone wrote home for them too, but they usually arrived broken.
Gene was discharged in Nov 1953 & returned home to work for Southwestern Bell until his retirement 1/Jun/84. He worked in many areas, ie. lineman, cable splicer, installer, but he was also a major Union worker. The phone company had 75 Union jobs. Those people could be gone whenever they wanted for union duties & the Union paid them, but they remained on the company payroll for benefits, holiday, and work pay (when they worked, and Gene said he seldom worked). From 1968-1975, Gene served as substitute president & vice-president of various locals, and ended his career as Assistant of the President.
Gene never married. He enjoyed drinking (Ashley trait!) and this increased in the solitude of retired bachelorhood. He died of advanced cirrhosis of the liver at Southeast Memorial Hospital 11/Apr/95. His funeral service was held at the Houston Memorial Veterans Cemetery, where he was also buried.
Military Information: SFC, US ARMY
Gene was the 6th child born to Henry Lee ASHLEY and Hattie Violet CRONE ASHLEY. Hattie was very ill with kidney problems and knew she might die. She was especially close to her sister-in-law Ruth VICKREY ASHLEY & husband Will and asked them to care for her baby if she did not survive. Hattie died three hours after Gene’s birth. Henry had 4 motherless children, plus a daughter who died, and adding an infant would every difficult, so Ruth & Will were welcomed foster parents. When Gene was five days old he made the 20 mike trek to Park Place where he was welcomed by his cousins, the 10 yr old twins Jack & Marjorie. Throughout his childhood he often visited with his family & spent summers in Dayton, but it was easy to go back to Park Place and the big house where he was fussed over by Aunt Ruth who adored him. They treated him their own child. He even inherited their home.
After Gene graduated from Milby High School, he went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone on 3/Feb/1950. On Pearl Harbor Day of that year (7/Dec/1950) he was drafted into the US Army and sent to Korea. He was the supply sergeant for the anti-air craft unit. He would drive his jeep into Soul abt 3 times a week, hunting up things, mostly light bulbs. They had rigged up a little generator that was so erratic that it quickly ruined light bulbs. Everyone wrote home for them too, but they usually arrived broken.
Gene was discharged in Nov 1953 & returned home to work for Southwestern Bell until his retirement 1/Jun/84. He worked in many areas, ie. lineman, cable splicer, installer, but he was also a major Union worker. The phone company had 75 Union jobs. Those people could be gone whenever they wanted for union duties & the Union paid them, but they remained on the company payroll for benefits, holiday, and work pay (when they worked, and Gene said he seldom worked). From 1968-1975, Gene served as substitute president & vice-president of various locals, and ended his career as Assistant of the President.
Gene never married. He enjoyed drinking (Ashley trait!) and this increased in the solitude of retired bachelorhood. He died of advanced cirrhosis of the liver at Southeast Memorial Hospital 11/Apr/95. His funeral service was held at the Houston Memorial Veterans Cemetery, where he was also buried.
Military Information: SFC, US ARMY
After Gene graduated from Milby High School, he went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone on 3/Feb/1950. On Pearl Harbor Day of that year (7/Dec/1950) he was drafted into the US Army and sent to Korea. He was the supply sergeant for the anti-air craft unit. He would drive his jeep into Soul abt 3 times a week, hunting up things, mostly light bulbs. They had rigged up a little generator that was so erratic that it quickly ruined light bulbs. Everyone wrote home for them too, but they usually arrived broken.
Gene was discharged in Nov 1953 & returned home to work for Southwestern Bell until his retirement 1/Jun/84. He worked in many areas, ie. lineman, cable splicer, installer, but he was also a major Union worker. The phone company had 75 Union jobs. Those people could be gone whenever they wanted for union duties & the Union paid them, but they remained on the company payroll for benefits, holiday, and work pay (when they worked, and Gene said he seldom worked). From 1968-1975, Gene served as substitute president & vice-president of various locals, and ended his career as Assistant of the President.
Gene never married. He enjoyed drinking (Ashley trait!) and this increased in the solitude of retired bachelorhood. He died of advanced cirrhosis of the liver at Southeast Memorial Hospital 11/Apr/95. His funeral service was held at the Houston Memorial Veterans Cemetery, where he was also buried.
Military Information: SFC, US ARMY
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
