William B. Asher

William Bevans Asher passed away at the age of 84 on June 8, 2024, at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis.

William (Bill) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 10, 1940, to James Sheridan and Helen (Bevans) Asher. He was an athlete, a lifeguard, a soldier, a policeman, a father, a husband, a teacher, a corporate vice president, an entrepreneur, and a lifelong learner and teacher. He downplayed his successes and never bragged about himself. He taught himself boat building, home renovation, camping, bicycling, canoeing, animal rescue, and shared these activities with his children and his many lifelong friends.

He graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic High School in 1958 in one of the last all-boys classes, and later taught history. In high school he was a lifeguard and played multiple sports including lacrosse and baseball, which should not be a surprise since growing up they could hear the bat striking the ball at the old Orioles’ stadium a couple of blocks from their home.

His parents were active in the Northwood Methodist Church and through contacts there he got a summer job at the Grachur Club on the Magothy River outside Baltimore. In between his duties there during school breaks he built himself a sailboat, one of several he owned over the years, and learned to water ski and canoe and to play volleyball, and eventually met his first wife Susan there.

He worked many jobs during and after high school and started to attend college, then joined the Army. It worked out well for him, and he often shared pleasant anecdotes about this time, including when he was ordered to escort a solder accused of going AWOL to serve time in military jail while he was in the military police in Germany. He was given a side arm and a single bullet and told to “shoot the fella” if he tried to escape. During the long plane ride, they ended up becoming friends. After a few years in service, Bill wrote to the president of Loyola of Maryland, who then contacted a general, asking to get out a little early so he could continue his college education. It was granted and the Army paid for his college, to boot. He completed his college education at Loyola, where he had been a key player on the lacrosse team.

He and Susan Beauchamp were married in 1965 and had three children, Mike, Lauree, and Dan, between 1966 and 1969. These were lean years but he found ways to provide for his family and attend night school. He took odd jobs, bought a vending machine business, and worked it for several years before selling it again.

He worked his way up in the moving and storage business from loading trucks to moving his family west to Indianapolis in 1980 for a sales management position during deregulation. He worked at Mayflower for many years in sales, then franchise relations, then Vice President in charge of national tariffs and governmental affairs. He kept in touch with many friends and relations on the East Coast, especially his sister Betty Langan and her family, who were important to him.

After his marriage to Susan dissolved, he started to attend Church of the Saviour in 1991 where he met Lynn (Graft) Osborn, and they were married in 1994. When he met Lynn, he found new energy and the last 30 years have been his happiest. He became a second father to Lynn's daughters Vicki and Terri Pope.

Bill retired from Mayflower after it was bought by United in the mid-1990s. But retirement did not suit him, and he got involved in his Indian Lake neighborhood and community.

Bill and Lynn adopted four retired racing greyhounds and fostered many more with a greyhound rescue group. To keep his rescued dogs healthy, he got involved in lure-coursing greyhounds and other sight hounds. He started walking other dogs voluntarily, then built a business out of it which he maintained for a decade.

With a little help he took on City Hall over a wastewater pumping plant and won. For many years he worked on maintaining Indian Lake by dredging it, and was an Indian Lake board member for several years. He was also active in the Church of the Saviour cabin group. He spoke often of his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and close neighbors.

Lynn and Bill were as close as two people could be for all the time they were allowed. He would not have left his love or his family or his friends if he could have avoided it. He had to make difficult decisions when his own parents were at the end of their lives, and he did not want to put anyone else through that experience. In that, he got his wish, but he will be missed.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his sister. He leaves behind an extended blended family that includes his wife, children and their spouses, grandchildren and their spouses, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and beloved pets.

There will be a Celebration of his Life at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 1, 2024, at the Mud Creek location of Geist Christian Church, 8550 Mud Creek Rd, Indianapolis, Indiana. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in his memory to your favorite charity.