Biographical Text
Associate Professor Emeritus of Health, Leisure and Exercise Science Evan Hamilton Ashby, Jr. (August 18, 1923-) was born in Remington, Virginia, to Grace and Evan Ashby. His father was the local pharmacist and his mother a school teacher. He graduated from John Barton Payne High School in Remington at the age of fifteen and entered Randolph-Macon College with the class of 1944. Graduating in September 1943 with a B.S. degree in general science, he was employed briefly as an assistant instructor in the Department of Chemistry at Randolph-Macon College, with plans to enter the University of Virginia in the next few months. Instead, Ashby was inducted into the United States Army, and, after medical basic training, stayed at Camp Grant, Illinois, as cadre. Later he was an officer candidate at the Medical Field Service School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Medical Administrative Corps. Serving at Fort Lewis, Washington, and Bushnell General Hospital in Utah, he completed his tour of duty as administrative assistant to the division surgeon of the 86th Infantry Division in the Philippines. He was present on the reviewing stand with General Douglas MacArthur when the Philippines received its independence on July 4, 1946, a memorable occasion. Returning to Virginia, he entered the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia and graduated with an M.D. degree in 1951. He took an internship and residency at Norfolk (Virginia) General Hospital and married Helen Louise Mace, a graduate of the school of nursing at the University of Virginia. They have three children, Kee (1954), Evan III (1955-), and Will (1957-). Back home in Remington, Virginia, in 1953, Dr. Ashby owned and operated the Remington Medical Center and did general practice for sixteen years. During that time he was elected mayor of Remington for four terms and served one term as a member of the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors. Becoming interested in sports medicine, Dr. Ashby accepted a position as director of medical services at Appalachian State University in September 1969 and was appointed an associate professor in 1971. He was active in classroom- and residence-life programs involving medically pertinent matters relating to healthy living. In the community, he was a member of the Watauga County Emergency and Rescue Squad, serving as chief for a number of years. He taught Emergency Medical Technicians then and has continued to be involved with the group in Boone. Dr. Ashby has been affiliated professionally with the Medical Societies of Virginia and North Carolina, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of General Practice and its Virginia affiliate, and is a fellow of the American College Health Association, serving two years as the chair of the Athletics Medical Section. Additional memberships include the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Athletic Trainers Association. He has also had appointments to the attending staff of Watauga County Medical Center, Boone, North Carolina, served as chief of staff at the Fauquier County Hospital in Warrenton, Virginia, before moving to North Carolina and still holds an appointment as medical examiner for North Carolina and a similar appointment for Carroll County, Virginia. Dr. Ashby served on the Emergency Medical Service Committee of the Region D Council of Governments for a number of years, two of which were as chair. When he retired in 1991, the university named the training room in the field house the Evan H. Ashby Sports Medicine Room. After attending 306 consecutive football games, home and away, he finally missed a game. He still attends the home games in Boone and enjoys photographing the games and giving the prints to the players. Upon retirement, Dr. Ashby returned to his native Virginia and lives along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Cascade Mountain Resort, outside Fancy Gap, Virginia. His wife, Dr. Deanna Bowman, formerly director of academic computing at Appalachian State University has also retired and spends most of her time landscaping their cottage grounds. Dr. Ashby is active in the Cana, Virginia, Volunteer Fire Department, routinely attending fire schools such as the Emergency Vehicle Operation, Hazmat Awareness, and other associated endeavors. He even gets to drive a fire truck and run the engine sometimes, and his wife always asks upon his return: "did you get to squirt water?" Dr. Ashby's hobbies continue to be mainly photography, and he has about given up on his desire to build and run a model railroad. The eight grandchildren are growing. Reading and writing to old friends occupies much of Dr. Ashby's time. He returns to his first alma mater, Randolph-Macon College, for the annual Old Grads Association meetings and finds himself still able to "cut a rug" when the band plays 1940s music. In the spring of 2001, he became a "patriarch" of the University of Virginia School of Medicine Alumni Association, commemorating having graduated fifty years previously. Sources: Personal correspondence and long association. -Dr. Richard D. Howe
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