Ora Lee Knebel Ashmore

Ora Lee Knebel Ashmore was born April 3, 1924, in the country between Round Top and Carmine to Roland V. and Emma S. Knebel. She left this earth peacefully on April 11, 2016 at her home in Boling. After graduation from LaGrange High School in 1942, Ora Lee married the love of her life, James Melvin Ashmore, Jr. (also known as Duck or Sonny) on Oct. 4, 1942 in Carmine. She lived there and worked as a butcher in Jacob’s Store until her husband returned from his WWII overseas service in the Army’s John Deere Battalion. For several years they owned a tailor shop in Carmine. Their only child, Sue Jane, was born in Burton Hospital in 1947. The entire family moved to Boling in 1950. In Boling, Ora Lee and Sonny bought and ran A&B Grocery & Market for years. She was the bookkeeper and checker while he was the butcher. After they sold the grocery, they enjoyed Astros games, community and church activities, cooking, yard work and travel. After the death of Sonny in 1985, Ora Lee served as chairperson and board member of the Boling Community Bank, for which Sonny was the driving force. She was a member of Boling First United Methodist Church, the Boling Chamber of Commerce and the Wharton 100 Club. Ora Lee was the first recipient of the Boling Chamber of Commerce’s Woman of the Year Award in 1981. She was also a faithful volunteer calling Bingo twice a week at Wharton Manor Nursing Home for over 30 years. Ora Lee was preceded in death by her parents: Roland and Emma Knebel; husband: James Ashmore, Jr., sisters: Gladys Ponfick and Evelyn Fincher, special sister-in-law: Addie Mae Lockwood, and niece: Sandra Lynn Fincher. Ora Lee is survived by her daughter Sue Jane and husband Randee Johnson of China Spring, special neighbors and extended family AJ and Sandi Schubach of Boling, sister Lucile and husband Frank Burttschell of Sweeny, special “adopted” grandsons: Troy Schubach and family of Boling, Wayne Rogers and family of Midland, and Rodney Smith and family of Waco, special nephews: Bud Lockwood and wife Elaine of Aransas Pass, Walter Ponfick and wife Sue Dell of New Braunfels, Ralph Ponfick and wife Sally of Lafayette, Colo., Jimmy Ponfick and wife Eva of Beaumont, special nieces: Jill Burttschell of Seguin, Jan and husband Dennis Hill of La Grange, Judith and husband Rick Calhoun of Palacios, and dear friend JoAnn Dubois of Boling as well as close neighbors in the Pyssen Addition. The family cannot thank enough her special caregivers Dale Martinez, Trish Kuykendall, and Kelly Elliott as well as Houston Hospice. Visitation was held at the chapel of Wharton Funeral Home on Tuesday evening, April 12, 2016 from 6 to 8 p.m.  Funeral services were held on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at the chapel of Wharton Funeral Home at 10 a.m. with Rev. Kenny Carter officiating. Burial followed in Carmine Cemetery in Carmine, at 3 p.m. Serving as pallbearers were Allen Dale Ferrell, Bud Lockwood, Walter Ponfick, Wayne Rogers, AJ Schubach, Troy Schubach & Rodney Smith. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to Boling First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 272, Boling Texas 77420 or Storybook Christmas, P.O. Box 6088, Waco, Texas 76706. Condolences may be left at www.whartonfuneralhome.com. Funeral services under the direction of Wharton Funeral Home.