Francis Marion “Ez” Ashcraft passed away peacefully Tuesday February 10, 2015 at home in Saint Charles, Missouri in the presence of his wife and four daughters.

Mr. Ashcraft was born May 27, 1924 in Irvine, Kentucky, dear son of Ezart Francis Ashcraft, a prominent local attorney and Cloria Mae Brandenburg Ashcraft. His seventh great-grandfather, Capt. John Ashcraft, came from England to Virginia in 1635.

Mr. Ashcraft graduated from Irvine High School in 1941. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on December 6, 1941, and became the first Marine from Estill County. After initial training he was assigned to an artillery unit in the First Marine Division. Private Ashcraft fought for his country in the Battle of Guadalcanal, being in the first offensive and going ashore in the first wave. His unit received their first artillery piece on the beach there and learned to fire it during actual combat. On Guadalcanal he contracted both malaria and dengue fever, common afflictions in that dreadful jungle which claimed many of his fellow Marines. After a lengthy convalescence he returned to duty and was serving in China at war’s end.

As a part of the “Greatest Generation” Mr. Ashcraft returned home to Kentucky and helped build our country. He married the prettiest girl in Estill County, Delores June Huddleston, and together they raised four daughters. He went to work in the late 1940s as a Civil Servant in the United States Army as a munitions specialist. The Army loaned him to the United States Air Force and he served with them for the remainder of his career. That career took he and his family from Kentucky to California, France, Utah and Illinois. He developed and wrote the Air Force doctrine for the storage and transportation of weapons and hazardous material including nuclear weapons.

Upon retirement in 1979 he and Delores settled in Palm Harbor, Florida and established themselves as active members in their community. In 2003 they moved to Saint Charles, Missouri to be closer to family.

Mr. Ashcraft is survived by Delores, his beloved wife of sixty six years, and four daughters; Deborah Clarkson of Valencia, CA, Teresa Vernon of Maryland Heights, MO, Frances Richardson of Memphis, TN, and Karen Hoffmann of Aurora, IL. He is also survived by his brother, attorney Earl Franklin Ashcraft, a former judge in Estill County, as well as his sister Beverly Jean Thompson, a former mayor of Ravenna, KY. He has six grandchildren and four great-grand children.

Mr. Ashcraft was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW.

Internment will be at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on March 10th at 11am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Wounded Warrior Project or a charity of your choice.