Gerald W. Ashton; Longtime Agriculture Official

Gerald W. Ashton, the former deputy commissioner for the Ventura County Agriculture Department, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer. He was 71.

Ashton was born Dec. 6, 1927, in Covina. He met his future wife, Edna, in Fresno, where he was a college student. After the couple married, they returned to Covina.

In 1960, they moved to Ventura County when Ashton took a job as a packing foreman for a citrus company. A few years later, he was hired by the Agriculture Department, where he served as deputy commissioner for 24 years. He retired in 1988.

Ashton was a member of the Fillmore Santa Paula Masonic Lodge and the Al Malaikah Shrine Temple in Los Angeles. He was a charter member of the Ventura County Scottish Rite Bodies.

“He was the most quiet, soft and gentle man. He tried to live his teachings every day,” said his widow, Edna Ashton. “It’s quite a joy to live with someone like that.”

Ashton was preceded in death by his granddaughter Katie Davis Ashton.

In addition to his wife, Ashton is survived by daughter Shirley Benefiel of San Francisco; sons Richard of Arroyo Grande and David of Antelope Valley; brother Robert of Oxnard; sister Rita Johnson of Oregon City, Ore.; and five grandchildren.

Visitation will be today from 3 to 5 p.m. at Pierce Bros. Stetler Chapel. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the same location. Burial will follow at the Santa Paula Cemetery.