William Earl Ashby, 79, of Hanson, KY passed away on Thursday, April 25, 2019 at the Joseph Eddie Ballard Western Kentucky Veterans Center in Hanson.

He was born on November 30, 1939 in Hanson to the late Ruby Mae Ashby and Joe Hayden Ashby. Earl was a United States Army Veteran, he worked at Whirlpool and later retired from CSX. He was a member of Hanson Baptist Church in Hanson. He enjoyed farming and gardening.

In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his brother, Charles F. Ashby.

Survivors include his wife of fifty-six years, Bettie Ashby; son, Rodney (Marilyn) Ashby of Hanson; daughter,  Ronda (Barry) Foster of Hanson; brother, Donald (Helen) Ashby of Evansville, IN; sister, Mae Klabis of Warren, MI; granddaughters, Sierra (Stephen) Sargent of Shepherdsville, KY, Sydney Foster of Hanson and Ashley (Tony) Johnson of Nortonville, KY; three great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 28, 2019 in the chapel of Harris Funeral Home in Madisonville with Dr. Tom Branson officiating. Burial to follow at Hanson Cemetery in Hanson with military honors conducted graveside by the Hopkins County Honor Guard.

The visitation will be from 11 a.m until the funeral hour Sunday at the funeral home.

The pallbearers are Rodney Ashby, Barry Foster, Stephen Sargent, Bobby Winstead, Mark Allen and Bill Hendrix. Honorary pallbearers are Tony Ashby, Truman Suthard, David Branson and Jack McCormick.

Memorial contributions may be made in Earl's Memory to the Lewy Body Dementia Association.