AETC historian Dr. Ashcroft passes away Published Aug. 30, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Mike Hammond Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Air Education and Training Command lost a valued mission partner, mentor and friend last week when Dr. Bruce A. Ashcroft passed away in his office at the Lahm Conference Center on Randolph Air Force Base. Dr. Ashcroft, 55, a senior historian in the Air Education and Training Command History office, died the morning of Aug. 23 -- apparently as a result of a heart attack. Efforts to revive him by co-workers and paramedics were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at Northeast Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. The doctor's co-workers described him as "a historian's historian" -- someone who thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing. "He was our one-person outreach program," said Dick Emmons, AETC deputy command historian. "People would wander in here often -- usually old-timers, people who trained here previously. And he would show them photographs from their era, talk to them, and he just really enjoyed that." Another co-worker described Dr. Ashcroft as a man who had an interest in the human side of every story. "The thing that struck me about Bruce's work was that he really loved to tell the stories of people," said Dr. Joseph Mason, a fellow AETC historian. "He would record and preserve those stories. In everything -- like the work he recently did on the recovery and reconstitution of Keesler AFB after Hurricane Katrina -- he was always digging to find the personalities and the people that were behind all of that." Most importantly, Dr. Ashcroft's colleagues saw him as a friend and mentor. "He was very selfless in projects that came into the office," Dr. Mason said, referring to an opportunity Dr. Ashcroft had to be a commentator on the Weather Channel but passed to him instead. "One of the last things he did was to call (a friend), who had already long since PCS'd from here, and wish her a happy birthday. He was just like that." A memorial service for Dr. Ashcroft was held Monday at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Judy Ashcroft, and family and friends here and around the country.