Former Daytona Beach Mayor Bud Asher dies at 88

Former Daytona Beach Mayor Bud Asher addresses the commission at City Hall in Daytona Beach on July 20, 2011.

News-Journal / Sean McNeil

Published: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 11:08 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 3:31 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH ? Baron "Bud" Asher ? a former Daytona Beach mayor, businessman, attorney and football coach ? lost his battle with cancer this morning and died at his riverside home.

People throughout the community knew the prostate cancer was worsening in recent months, but today's news was still a blow to those who knew him well.

Asher, 88, died peacefully with his family around him.

"He was truly a community icon," said former Mayor Glenn Ritchey, who knew Asher for 35 years. "He loved the community and the people in it."

Ritchey said he last talked to Asher three days ago, and he was still upbeat, strong enough to take over the conversation and eager to talk about his blessings. Ritchey said Daytona Beach is losing too many leaders like Asher, those willing to serve throughout their lives.

Asher served as a city commissioner from 1983 to 1995 and as mayor from 1995 to 2003.

Those who knew Asher through his many years of coaching football also mourned his passing. Asher coached at New Smyrna Beach High School, Spruce Creek High School and Father Lopez Catholic High School, and as an assistant at Mainland High School and what was then Bethune-Cookman College.

?Coach Asher really meant a lot to me and obviously a lot of my former teammates," said Bill Gahagan, who played football for Asher at Father Lopez from 1985-88 and helped start the Bud Asher Foundation, which helps provide funds for local college students.

?There's no gray area with Coach Asher," Gahagan said. "You liked him or you didn't. The common thing is, you had to respect everything he did. The community was in the forefront of his mind; his players were in the forefront of his mind. Everything he did was for the betterment of this area or the betterment of his players.?

?Bud was a father figure,? added Anthony Campanella, a Seabreeze High School baseball coach who played quarterback for Asher at Father Lopez from 1985-87. ?When I first moved down here, he'd be on the sidelines of my junior high games (at Silver Sands Middle School). He wanted me to go to Lopez and play football for him. Definitely the best choice I ever made. He'll definitely be missed, that's for sure. He was a hard-nosed coach, but fair. ... And he loved his players."

Source: http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130705/news/130709856

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