DATE: Wednesday, July 2, 1997               TAG: 9707020568

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B14  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   68 lines

AT 95, BEACH MAN - ``AN INSTITUTION'' - RETIRES EVER SINCE HE GROOMED HORSES AT AGE 10, WILL ASHMAN HAS BEEN ON THE JOB.

Will Ashman's first job, at the age of 10, was grooming his family's horse and cleaning out her stall.

On Monday, at 95, he retired - a bit reluctantly - from his last job as the paid coordinator for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. It was a position he had held since 1977.

Supervisor Millie Aven had mixed emotions with the ending of Ashman's impeccable career. Ashman placed hundreds of volunteers in different charities and businesses in Virginia Beach, saving public and private companies hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

``He is just a prince of a man,'' said Aven, the senior volunteer services director for SEVAMP Senior Services. ``He has been a pleasure to work with. Will Ashman has been one who has adopted and accepted change - and there have been changes in this program - and never complained. He is a beautiful person.

``I know of no one else in his age category who is still on a payroll.''

Ashman's marathon work record began when his parents let him take care of Betty, a gentle mare who was his family's only means of transportation before they could afford a car.

It was exciting to ride Betty bareback on the outskirts of Baltimore, Ashman recalled, but the bigger thrill came from having the sole responsibility of such a magnificent animal. Ashman's father, a clothing manufacturer, and his mother believed that giving children jobs would help them to grow into better adults.

``Yes, I got my work ethic from my parents,'' said Ashman, who will turn 96 on July 25. ``We were brought up under conditions that your word was your bond. We didn't know much about the outside world.''

Betty was eventually replaced by a Model T Ford, but that early experience served Ashman the rest of his life. At 22 he worked as a mortgage administrator. In 1939, he became a Motorola wholesale distributor and then retired in 1965.

Rather than spend his golden years on a golf course, Ashman volunteered as a financial counselor until becoming the RSVP coordinator in 1977, a part-time position. Part-time meaning he worked from 9 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. every day.

Ashman, a slip of a man with a ready smile, is already looking ahead to volunteering at Westminster-Canterbury, where he lives. He regularly visits some of his volunteers who are now in nursing homes or hospitals.

``What else could I do?'' he asked from his office at Comprehensive Mental Health in Pembroke III. ``I'm going to see where I can be of service. And I'm going to relax, play bridge and walk.''

And also help the new guy adjust to taking over a much-loved man's position. Bob Jarrell, the new RSVP coordinator, said that he's going to try to keep Ashman around as long as possible.

``He knows everybody in town,'' said Jarrell, who has picked Ashman up every morning and taken him home every afternoon since starting on June 16. ``He tells me everything I need to know about the volunteers. He's got some big shoes to fill.''

Aven agreed.

``Will has become an institution in Virginia Beach,'' she said. ``A lot of people know him. He has been a marvel to have such responsibility and not miss a beat. We will all miss him.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

CHARLIE MEADS/The Virginian-Pilot

Will Ashman is leaving his position as coordinator of the Retired

Senior Volunteer Program after 20 years. He placed hundreds of

volunteers in different charities and businesses in Virginia Beach,

saving public and private companies hundreds of thousands of dollars

each year. Not one to be idle, Ashman said, ``I'm going to see where

I can be of service. And I'm going to relax, play bridge and walk.''

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