Obituary: Rex Laverne Ash
Herald and News
Klamath Falls, Oregon
September 07, 2004
Rex Laverne Ash, 69, died Aug. 28, 2004, at his Klamath Falls home after a battle against cancer.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Friday at Harbor Links Golf Course with Pete Pate officiating. Cremation will be by Pyramid Cremations. Private interment will be held on a later date. Davenport’s Chapel of the Good Shepherd is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Ash was born Oct. 28, 1934, and raised in Cassville, Mo. He was the youngest of three children born to Floyd and Charlene (Baker) Ash.
He worked on his family farm, but always felt the need to travel. Every summer, he and his buddies would go west to work at Crater Lake National Park.
He was also a Boy Scout counselor, teaching his scouts about his Native American heritage and survival techniques.
After graduating from high school in Cassville, he asked his high school sweetheart Peggy Jean Gibson to be his wife and she accepted.
Mr. Ash worked at many jobs, including those for Boeing Air and Mobil Oil, being a meter reader, and at a cement plant in Laramie, Wyo.
In 1958, he moved to Klamath Falls and went to work for Crater Lake Machinery, which later became Papé Bros. He was a parts delivery man and salesman and became the country’s number one Caterpillar salesman.
Over the years, he made many trips to Missouri to help out his 99-year-old mother and other loved ones.
After his marriage ended in divorce, he met his best friend and companion Rita Wagner.
Mr. Ash retired from Papé Bros. following 42 years there and decided to fulfill his dream of traveling. He went to Australia, Mexico and across the nation to New York City.
He loved to collect Southwest art, tend to his yard, play golf, and take pictures of beautiful scenery.
Survivors include his best friend and companion Rita Wagner of Klamath Falls and her daughters Jill and Laura; his daughters, Peggy Marie Maupin and her husband, Perry, and Jennifer Jo Ramsay and her fiance, Dave Stonestreet, of Klamath Falls, and his children Kevin and Kaelin; grandchildren Laci and Luke Ramsay of Klamath Falls; sister Betty Jewel Woosley of Independence, Mo., and her daughters and their husbands Kay and Tim Keister of Raytowne, Mo., and Gay and David Hadl of Lawrence, Mo.; brother and sister-in-law Hansford and Viola Ash and their children and spouses John and Sandra (Ash) Pishner of Wasilla, Alaska, Sidney and Linda Ash of Strafford, Mo., and Tom and Angela (Ash) Mann of Granby Mo.
He also leaves many special friends, including Nick and Rena Camaille, Bill Knott and Dennis McClure.
He was preceded in death by his ex-wife and a daughter, Suzy Collette Ash.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a local cancer fund.
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