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Former Maysville Mayor Remembered
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WENDY MITCHELL
Likable and memorable, Earl Arrasmith is remembered by his peers as a man who knew his community and took the job as mayor of Maysville seriously.
Arrasmith died Saturday at the age of 84.
"He was one of the earliest active mayors," said former mayor and commissioner Bill Boggs.
Arrasmith served Maysville as mayor from Jan. 10, 1970 to Dec. 17, 1973, said Boggs.
"He was well respected in the Maysville community, like a personal friend," said Boggs. "He was always willing to lend advice and very cooperative with the administrations that followed him."
Arrasmith was active as a veteran. In November, Arrasmith and members of AMVETS Post 124 of Maysville were honored with a reception by the Younger Women's Club.
He was chosen as grand marshal of the 2001 Maysville Veterans Day parade. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II and was brief in describing his war experiences, in a 2001 interview.
War time was tough as Japanese attacked both ground crews and planes, he recalled.
"They tossed quite a few bombs at us," said Arrasmith. "We saw quite a bit (of action), but nothing like the Marines."
Arrasmith was a life-time member of the Maysville VFW, entering in 1946 after returning from overseas, and was a three-time past post commander for 1951-52, 1958-59 and 1959-60.
"He was always active with veterans organizations," said David Cartmell, current mayor of Maysville.
Cartmell grew up around Arrasmith, who had worked as a salesman for Alvin Cummins Chevrolet.
"My brother and I used to deliver cars for them, trades between dealerships, so we were around Earl a lot. He was a really likable person who cared about everybody." said Cartmell. "He was a good man to the community and a good mayor. He had a sense, a good one, for where Maysville was going as a city and worked on the positive progress that could be made at the time."
Downtown Maysville was still a vibrant area at the time, said Cartmell.
"Earl Arrasmith, as mayor, was a big part of that," said Cartmell.
Even after he left office Arrasmith kept a finger on the pulse of the city.
Boggs recalled a time when a party near Arrasmith's home had gone on into the wee hours of the morning. Boggs was mayor at the time.
"He called me at 2 a.m., and told me there were a lot of people out there, and it was a pretty loud and rowdy crowd. I asked him what he would do about it. He laughed and said, 'I'm not the mayor, you are,'" Boggs recalled. "I went down there with the two police officers on duty and politely told the crowd they had 20 minutes to go home or I had a place for all of them to stay for the night. When we came back there was no noise and only two or three people around."
" The next night, I called Earl at 2 a.m. He asked why I had called him so late. I told him I thought he'd be up. He really got a laugh out of it," said Boggs.
Although he will be missed for his public service, Arrasmith was also family man, a husband, father, and grandfather.
"He will be missed by all," said Boggs.
Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 564-9091, ext. 276. |
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