Michael Ashworth -- Celebration of Life

oh okay okay so there so so so so hmm foreign hey good morning on behalf of the big fan of honor guard the united states marine corps and the tallahassee national cemetery thank you for letting us be a part of your memorial today it's our honor and our privilege because nothing will ever be the same current protocol requires that military honors be performed first but we'll have a firing detail that will fire three volleys the marine corps will play caps and fully present the flag and then you can continue with the rest of the server thank you [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] ah please um okay uh so so so so so so ah and for some of us here today there probably aren't enough salutes in the world to express how much we loved and adored and cherished and honored him as a person he was quite a special person to say the least he will be sorely psalm 121 i've been asked to reflect on this morning it goes like this i lift my eyes up to the mountains where does my health come from my help comes from the lord and the maker of heaven and earth he will not let your foot slip he who watches over you will not slumber indeed he who watches over israel will neither sleep or slumber the lord watches over you the lord is your shade at your right hand the sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night the lord will keep you from all forms you will watch over your life the lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more this song is beautiful and for no other reason it reminds us of god's love for his people in eight short verses we are reminded of god's protection god's comfort and god's everlasting safety you will find in the lord's loving arms he will not let your foot slip the lord watches over you the lord will keep you from harm what great promises that we need during this time especially in our crazy world but as i think about these verses i wonder if this psalm is not so much describing god as it's saying something about us what if companionship and protection and safety is a beautiful gift that we can provide one another throughout this rugged journey that we call life i don't know about you but i don't think there's anybody here who would object to that when i think about michael ashworth i wonder if god was giving us a glimpse of this song up close and personal while i have only had the pleasure of serving as michael's pastor for the past year i knew there was something different about michael he was a manly man i think few of us could deny that he was an intelligent man he would always send me the most interesting quotes and video clips and stories the favorite quote that he would always send me was the single biggest problem in communication was the illusion that it had taken place he said that to me more than once and i wonder if he was trying to tell me something my job is communicating so i i just can't help but think that he was trying to get to something and of course we all know that michael was not afraid to speak his mind he was not good at sugarcoating things that was not his fourth day however what i think separated michael from really most people was his love and his care and his concern for others michael loved his family michael loved his church michael loved his friends he loved you he loved his people when you looked around there was ever an emergency or a catastrophe or there was ever a time when you needed a helping hand michael would be there he would show up for it there was ever at need michael would jump in he would go to work on more than one occasion i was on the receiving end of the netherlands and that generosity and when i look at psalm 121 this is exactly what begins to unfold we can imagine the israelites god's people climbing up that that mountain of the lord and facing those daunting cliffs that that rough terrain those those dangerous obstacles we can imagine forces of evil and wickedness threatening in their journey after all climbing up a mountain is rugged it's difficult it's tough life is difficult and tough but i bet they never had a marine with them as they were climbing up the mountain i can imagine that they knew that god was with them a god full of love and care someone who loved his family someone who loved his plan someone who loved his people the israelites could always count on god to show up when they needed him the most we could always count on michael to show up when we needed them the most likely psalm 124 6 says oh blessed be god you didn't go off and leave us it's an awesome reminder of god's faithfulness it's a reminder that god puts people in this world to help us when we need it the most people like michael you see god is always looking out for us whether we realize it or not sometimes god sends people who are heaven sent into our lives that's why he sent his son jesus christ to remind us of his great love and that's why god created us that's why god created you that's why god created me that's why god created people like michael on this world to remind us to take a deep breath every once in a while and to know it's going to be okay you know there's one thing that we'll never get used to we'll never get used to saying goodbye to loved ones when we found out that michael passed away we weren't prepared for it it shook us it hurt us however the gift of michael's life and his love will remain with us forever while we say goodbye we know it's not goodbye michael's fingerprints are everywhere companionship protection safety service love those are gifts that don't go away they make an impression on you they stick with you you never forget them we won't forget michael i know michael is now resting with his lord and savior a savior that he loved and served with the best of them michael is now with the lord and savior that he served and a lord and savior that cares for him and that has prepared a place for him in heaven and michael now awaits for when we too will join him in that place that god has prepared for each and every one of us to put our faith in trust and until that time we can be thankful until that time we can be hopeful and until that time we can say well done good and faithful thank you we gather here today to celebrate the life of michael ashworth a christian a loving father husband grandfather u.s marine fighter pilot marathon runner volunteer and outdoor enthusiast for those of you who don't know me i'm marcus ashworth mike's oldest son on behalf of the family we'd like to thank everyone for traveling here this morning this is an unusual time to be on the road these days and our families grateful for your appearance and sacrifice you've made here to pay your respects to michael ashworth our dad i'd like to share a little bit about who our dad michael ashworth was born on may 18 1944 st joseph hospital in houston texas he was the first of three of earnest and dorothy ashworth family lived in a small garage apartment above his father's upholstery shop around 1950 the family moved to jewett texas where dad started first grade they lived on a family farm of 70 acres or so for the railroad splitting the property at a very young age his mother would often send him out with a 22 rifle to go fetch a rabbit or squirrel for dinner the family didn't have a lot of money at the time but it was there that dad developed a deep appreciation for the land and outdoors nature and living off the land as god has provided around 1959 a family moved to tomball texas dad was known for his academics and love of music he was national honor society both in the 10th 11th and 12th grade set first chair trumpet in the high school band for three years and was voted most likely to succeed in high school his senior year all during high school he worked as an assistant to an electrician or in a local heating and air company a job he would fall back on when his father passed away in college he graduated tomball high school in 1962 with honors and was accepted to the freshman class of texas a m giga maggie's in 1963. he's a proud member of the fight and aggie band while in college michael would travel back to tomball to take his father who was sick with cancer to houston these round trips occurred on a weekly basis right up until dad's father passed away at the beginning of the senior year at texas a m up until that point dad worked his way up in the hierarchy of texas a m band and was in line to become one of two drum majors all of that had taken a back seat for dad after his father passed dan had dropped out of his beloved texas a m to help his mother a schoolteacher at the time take care of his two younger sisters one of which is here today uh he worked during the day as an electrician with the same company had been part of within high school and drove that night to houston the armored meat packing plant roughly an hour away after a year helping his family get back on their feet he enlisted in the united states marine corps and shipped off to san diego for boot camp and michael soon began realizing his childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot his three years of college qualified him for the bootstraps program which allowed him to enter officer candidate school in 1968 he had a unique distinction of graduating both of the marine corps recruit depot in san diego as well as officer kennedy school which the marines referred to as a mustang he graduated from ocs in the top 10 percent of his class and was given the option for pilot training with the air force at laredo air force base where he received air force his air force wings he was sent to hume arizona marine corps air station to complete carrier landing qualification to receive his navy wings and training in the air force skyhawk the a4 skyhawk as many of his marine buddies know was a mobile single-seat subsonic career carrier-capable attack aircraft was described as maneuverable and rugged he flew over 300 missions in vietnam and orders awarded multiple accommodations and awards during the service including the navy's distinguished flying cross and the selection to be an instructor at u.s navy fighter weapons school located near california which brian i thought that was the coolest commonly known as top gun for those who don't know his job was to fly opposition and train the navy's best fighter pilots it wasn't until several years after the movie type gun came out that ivy even realized he was an instructor there dad rarely if ever spoke about the war of his accomplishments at least not with us most of what islander growing up was either digging through his uh blog books buried in his closet or overhearing conversations from long-lost marine buddies who drop by the farm to see them one such marine recently wrote quote blue trick was an officer of the marines able to have great rapport with the troops he earned great respect for them a true leader of men without spike towards anyone plain spoken often blunt frequently funny he was able to convert almost any problem to step by step simple step-by-step calm and thought out solutions no arm failing national teeth he just got the issue resolved last year at pennsylvania union the only soldier to make it a rank of general from dad's class told anita quote michael is my hero during his career dad had two passions running and outdoors uh during his 20 years of service dad ran three marathons which is incredible to be he's a big guy in 1986 he retired as lieutenant colonel and our family moved to monticello florida dad loved the southern charm and beauty of north florida we believed it brought back fond memories of his texas childhood growing up the small family farm and drew it he started building our family's log home in 1986 a two-year project turned into a 20-year project as you know dad that often happens dad worked on his house during the day several years for several years until it was finished enough for us to move in full time our home was a workshop of all sorts dad learning and doing everything himself as he went along he was truly blessed with a mechanically inclined frame i remember him owning a set of log home manuals which had step-by-step instructions on how to build your own log home he was orderly and rarely took shortcuts or skipped over chapters there were probably 10 or so books to the set dad would read front to cover one book at a time and start working he did the foundation framework all the way up to the finish work he did by himself i remember several jefferson county neighbors uh donating their treats cyprus logs in the swamp and brian and i were out there knee deep cutting them they still stand as railings today in the home a few times we needed something more than he could do on his own a good neighbor would come to the rescue with a piece of equipment we had a lot of good neighbors out in our neighborhood oakland's plantation dad enjoyed taking things apart to see how they worked when sometimes something went wrong he fixed it himself while brian and i were in high school he rebuilt the engine to his original 1978 g poncho you might remember that truck that wasn't there wasn't many like it around town as many of you recall had a bright marine sticker on the bumper let everyone in town know who was behind the wheel he was proud to be a united states marine and that continued well after retirement we also learned the value of hard work by watching dad he had high expectations of us and others when it came to effort level and giving you a personal best contrary to what many people think of having marine as a father he didn't yell at us much which might be surprising to somebody without an interaction he was more far more patient loving and disciplined with his approach to father and brian and i than when we think brian and i learned a lot from watching and helping dad work through the years on various projects it contributed so much to his family while growing up he had some expectation of us to do the same the payment of work however was a tough negotiation between brian and i and dad i remember one time my freshman year of high school i was cutting splitting logs and a follow-up on some of the property i complained about not getting paid he said you do get paid you get free review and board that was dad's monitoring i wasn't sure of splitting logs constituted the trade at the time but i did realize from that point forward brian and i weren't likely to win any labor negotiation disputes we had he believed in volunteerism and contributing back something to the family and society and encouraged us all to do the same if we or any of our neighbors though as the pastor mentioned uh or anyone else who asked for his opinion or help he was always gracious with them he was unselfish with his sweat equity his knowledge and many times his equipment often time when he came to visit us he would inevitably end up helping me check off my to-do list fixing broken denver's gas stove burners anything in between he's happy to be contributing to doing something to his help his family and friends in addition to being able to build and just uh fix about anything dad loved being in the great outdoors when brian and i were younger our family's vacations were mostly spent in winnebago camping and fishing around state national parks he loved canoeing camping hunting and fishing did so with adidas so many times and did so right up until the last year of his life he was believed and taught us that the great outdoors were a gift from god he was a member of our middle georgia hunting camp for the last 10 years or so it was there we shared so many campfires dear stories fond memories that always found a way to conversate with just about anyone and could intelligently discuss a wide range of subject matters as some of you already know or thought he could he was an avid reader and it was a rarity that he would meet someone he couldn't talk to he may have disagreed with you but was always willing to intellectually debate or challenge a premise in a very respected manner dad was also from the school of waste not want not quite content on not spending money some of you might know going to lunch with him occasionally when he did spend money he usually bought something of quality and he thought that would last a long time with regular maintenance and repair like his jeep auto truck or ranger bass boat both of which survived 30 years of t8 boys this however became a runny joke with many of his close friends and family after brian and i became grown in families of our own we still found the time to take some outdoor adventures together we would often all laugh together at items he would bring to camp like his 30 year old igloo coolers which are hinged together by two pieces of nylon or his worn out deer climber which worried brian and i but one day rotted up i lose 20 feet up in the stand not that he couldn't afford anything better it was in fact often family and friends who'd given newer replacements for birthday or christmas gifts only to see him using the older version next time around he enjoyed getting more out of items that were well past their expiration date but more than that there was always an underlying attitude of contentment dad almost always had one sense an overwhelming sense of gratitude no matter what the circumstances were some of the simplest moments like sitting on his back porch overlooking his pond with a cup of coffee or sitting around the campfire listening to the sounds of the night he would often ask quote i wonder what the poor people are doing michael ashworth was strong courageous kind compassionate considerate and loving he had an unconditional love for his god his family and his country he's proud to be marine a husband father grandfather brother and uncle and he was our hero or tutor or mentor our cheerleader through life and our friend dad we will miss you dearly semper fi rest in peace and god bless and a leader there and he was faithful always very but all the time so i think this song that anita chose to do his service with is perfect and if anyone i know you all have on that but if you feel inclined to sit through your mask along with me i know you'll know this song and it's perfect for the pilot and it's house iowa [Music] i [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] end of these is today from paul and roman's great affirmation as a reminder of hope and comfort you shall separate us from the love of god no tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword though in all things we are more than conquerors you're the one who loved us we are sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come or powers nor height or death nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of god in jesus christ our lord and we give thanks to god amen good morning this completes the service for mr ashworth a simplified dallas to all the marines that are present today and thank you all for coming out here and spending this time remembering uh retired lieutenant colonel ashworth with his family and we'd like to offer you some time right now if you'd like to get up and speak with the family we also have the books back in the back those that haven't had the chance to sign it and from there the family has requested a private service uh for internment up in the columbarium so as soon as you uh say uh uh go ahead and talk with the family if you please return to your cars and the rest of us will be heading up to the column thank you again you

Channel: Betty Messer

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Id: vvQvD3OL6gY

Length: 37min 30sec (2250 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 31 2020