Harry Ashby, 90, of Grinnell, died on Monday, April 30, 2012, at the Mayflower Health Care Center. A funeral service will be held 10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 3, 2012, at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell with Rev. Kathryn Roys, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, and Muriel Johnannessen officiating. Casket Bearers will be his grandchildren. Interment will be at the Bethel Cemetery near Grinnell. Friends may call at funeral home beginning 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The family will be present at the funeral home from 6:00 p.m. to 8:0 p.m. on Wednesday. Memorials may be to St. John's Lutheran Church or to Grinnell Regional Hospice. Harry was born on May 24, 1921, near Grinnell to Henry M. and Edythe Burnham Ashby. He was raised on the family farm and attended rural school. He was a member of the Class of 1938 from Grinnell High School. Following his education he assisted his family with farming and worked as a meat processor at the Kellogg Locker. On December 28, 1941, he was married to Virginia Redding in Kellogg, Iowa. The couple operated a grain and livestock farm southwest of Grinnell. He also worked for Farm Service and managed the Montezuma Sale Barn before representing the Grinnell Realty Company as a real estate agent. He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, the Farm Bureau, 4-H and the Poweshiek County Board of Realtors. He enjoyed fishing, card marathons; maintaining his yard and giving his grandchildren swing rides. Harry is survived by his wife, Virginia Ashby of Grinnell; his children, Gordon (Karen) Ashby, Darrell (Joyce) Ashby and Miriam (Dale) Schultz, all of Grinnell; 19 grandchildren; 47 great grandchildren; two brothers, Robert Ashby of Grinnell and Alfred Ashby of Newton; and one sister, Margaret Vander Kamp of Grinnell. He was preceded in death by his parents; one son, Allan; one daughter-in-law, Jean Ashby; and one grandson, Gary.