Many people are happy if they experience a successful career from which they are able to retire. Michael L. Ash has had three careers—with the United States Navy, with the Federal Aviation Administration, and as a professional artist.

Ash was born in Willow Springs, Mo., but the family moved to Kansas City, Mo., at the beginning of World War II. He attended Manual High School and has fond memories of Boy Scouting, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. His burning desire to see the world led Ash to a U.S. military recruiting office in Kansas City.

Ash joined the U.S. Navy in 1953. After graduating from boot camp and radio school he traveled to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Wash., where he was assigned as a radioman on the aircraft carrier USS Shangri La. Later he spent a few years with an aircraft patrol squadron on Okinawa and Formosa. When his four-year hitch was over, Ash left the Navy, but about a month later he reenlisted.

In 1958 he married a childhood sweetheart, Patricia, who went to Westport High School in Kansas City and with whom he had "practically grown up."

After reenlisting, Ash enjoyed a tour of duty in Washington, D.C., before being assigned to the USS Constant, a small wooden minesweeper with a crew of only 59. He enjoyed his two years aboard the ship, and attends the ship's reunion almost every year.

In 1964 Ash was assigned to Guam, where his job shifted to cryptographics, ciphering secret characters. He went on to serve in Adak, Alaska, and later spent three years in Rota, Spain. His last assignment was back to Guam, where he retired as a Chief Radioman in 1973.

During his Navy career, he and Patricia raised three children: David, who was born on Guam; Michael, who was born in Kansas City, Mo.; Maria, who was born in Spain. Son Daniel was born in Kansas City, Mo., after Ash retired from the Navy. Both Michael and David served in the Navy.
Referring to his 20 years of service, Ash reminisces, "I had really good duty; it was a really good career. I loved my job."

After retiring, Ash was accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration in 1974, and he worked in the Airway Facilities Section at the Olathe Air Traffic Control Center. His duties consisted of maintaining computers and peripheral equipment that fed off the computers. After 20 years with the FAA, in 1994 Ash retired for the second time.

"It was a great job," recalls Ash, "and a wonderful group of people to work with."

According to Henry Moore, the renowned English sculptor, "There's no retirement for an artist; it's your way of living, so there's no end to it."

Michael Ash is certainly representative of Moore's statement.
"It was my fifth-grade art teacher who influenced my love of art," he recalls fondly "Many times I sat at my desk in other classes, drawing, when I should have been paying more attention to my teachers."

Ash's interests in art range widely. He has produced stained-glass pieces for private homes and windows for churches—either his designs or those of his clients. Ash can draw, sketch, and paint in oil. He's proficient in creating jewelry and items in scrimshaw, as did the sailors on the sailing ships that have long ago slipped into history.

The exceptionally handsome gourds that Ash dries and paints feature the colors and designs of the historic Southwest. Ash's proficiency in working with silver and stones has resulted in stunning jewelry.

After 48 years of marriage, Patricia died in 2005. At age 73, Ash still lives in the 125-year-old house on a farm near De Soto where he and his wife settled after he retired from the Navy. He has eight grandchildren.

Ash doesn't attend shows and exhibitions or display his works as he once did, but he will open his home shop, The Ancient Mariner Art Studio, 913-585-3223, upon request.

Although Ash's time is limited, he's an active radio operator with the call sign KDQKKW and a member of Overland Park's Abdallah Shrine, and is affiliated with several Masonic Lodge chapters.

At the time of this writing, Ash and Helen Burns, an artist and English teacher, have set a date for their wedding.