WEST PARIS – Benjamin J. Ashley Jr., 78, of West Paris, died Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Ledgeview Living Center.

He was born in New York, N.Y., on Dec. 30, 1928, the son of Benjamin J. Ashley Sr. and Florence Spooner Ashley. He graduated from high school in New York and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He attended McAllister’s Embalming School in New York City, graduating in 1960.

He owned and operated Ashley Funeral Home on Second Street in Brooklyn, N.Y., for many years. He also did trade work for many funeral homes in the New York area, until the mid-1970s.

He was a member of the Christ Episcopal Church in Norway. He enjoyed deep-sea fishing, carpentry and the Los Angeles Dodgers. At one time he operated a hot dog stand. He loved sightseeing and traveling across the country. He was especially proud of his granddaughter, Captain Victoria Asher, U.S. Air Force, Wichita, Kan. He married Lucille Labbe on Nov. 6, 1980.

He is survived by his wife of West Paris; children, William (Bill) of Richfield, Conn., Kathleen Olson of Brooklyn, N.Y., Rose Ashley of North Babylon, L.I., N.Y., Benjamin J. Ashley III of Center Conway, N.H. and Scott Ashley of Coral Springs, Fla.; a sister, Blanche Pyatt of Lawrenceville, Ga.; 14 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two stepchildren, Gordon and Tracy; four stepgrandchildren; and several cousins.

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