Horace Ashenfelter, lll Obituary (1923

Horace Ashenfelter, III, 94, died peacefully on January 6, 2018 in West Orange, N.J. He was an Olympic Gold medal winner who lived in Glen Ridge, N.J. since 1951. Born on January 23, 1923 to Horace Ashenfelter and Martha Ashenfelter in Phoenixville, PA and raised on a farm in Collegeville, PA. Horace "Nipper" was the eldest of four children. His brother, William Ashenfelter, predeceased him and was also an Olympic track athlete and ran with Horace in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. He is survived by his brother Donald and sister Jane Leinbach. Horace graduated from Collegeville Trapp High School (PA) in 1941. He enrolled at Penn State in 1941 and spent one year there prior to enlisting into the U.S. Army Air Corps where he was a fighter pilot and was stationed in Florida as an aerial gunnery officer until 1945 when he married his wife, Lillian Wright, and resumed his education at Penn State. He graduated in 1949 and completed his Master's Degree in 1955. While at Penn State, Mr. Ashenfelter won two NCAA Titles, the 1948 NCAA Cross Country Champion and the 1949 NCAA Two Mile track champions. He was also a member of a 4 mile relay for Penn State that won the Penn Relay Championship which included both his brothers Bill and Don. After college he served as a special agent in the FBI from 1950 to 1959 and continued his track career as a member of the New York Athletic Club (NYAC). His most dramatic victory came when he won the 1952 Olympic Gold Medal and set a world record of 8:45.4 at the Helsinki Olympics in the 3000 meter steeplechase. No American has won that event at the Olympics since that time. The press embraced the story at the time since it was during the Cold War and Horace, an FBI Agent, defeated the reigning world record holder from Russia, Vladimir Kazantsev. It made for a good story; however, Mr. Ashenfelter always saw it as just a coincidence that the other athlete was a Russian. He was not impressed by the political intrigue. Mr. Ashenfelter continued to run competitively until 1957 and was one of the premier track athletes during that time. He won 15 national AAU championships and set a new indoor world record in the 2 mile run in 1954. He was also awarded the prestigious Sullivan Award in 1952 presented to the U.S. Amateur athlete of the year. He was a member of the 1956 Olympic track team in Melbourne, Australia. After retiring from track, Mr. Ashenfelter remained an FBI Agent until 1959 when he left that service to enter private business serving in a number of sales-related jobs in the metal refining industry. He retired at age 70 and maintained a second residence in Stuart, Florida until 2016. He has been inducted into several Halls of Fame including those at Penn State, the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame, the USA Track Hall of Fame and the NYAC Hall of Fame. The indoor track at Penn State was dedicated and named in his honor; and his Olympic gold medal is on display at the Penn State Sports Museum at Beaver Stadium. The town of Glen Ridge dedicated the annual Thanksgiving Day Run in his honor; the Ashenfelter 8K Run had over 4,000 participants in 2017 and raised money for the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation. In addition, he was one of the founding members of the Glen Ridge Athletic Association in 1954 which still serves the youth of Glen Ridge. He was a member of Glen Ridge Country Club since 1952 and was an avid golfer well into his 90's and made two (2) holes in one. He spent countless hours of volunteer work in Glen Ridge and especially at the Freeman Gardens. Mr. Ashenfelter is survived by his wife of 72 years, Lillian (Wright) and four sons. Horace IV (Tucker) and his wife, Helen of Rochester Hills, Michigan, James and his wife, Kathleen, of Glen Ridge, N.J., Alan Thompson, M.D. (Tom) and his wife, Susan of Needham, Mass. and John and his wife, Helen of Chatham, N.J. He also is survived by 12 grandchildren, Michael Ashenfelter, Mark Ashenfelter, Erin Ashenfelter Weissert, Lynne Ashenfelter-Moramarco, James Ashenfelter, Jr., Brad Ashenfelter, Alan Thompson Ashenfelter, Jr., Perry Ashenfelter, Katherine Ashenfelter, William Ashenfelter, Andrew Ashenfelter, David Ashenfelter and four great grandchildren. A memorial service is being planned for February 10, 2018 at the Glen Ridge Congregation Church, 195 Ridgewood Avenue, Glen Ridge, N.J. at 10:00 AM. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to Freeman Gardens Association of Glen Ridge, PO Box 8113, Glen Ridge NJ 07028-8113 or the Horace Ashenfelter Endowed Scholarship (check to Penn State University), mailed to Nittany Lion Club, Attn: Janine Hawk, 147 Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, PA 16802 which was created to support worthy track athletes at Penn State, or to any charity of your choice.