Leslie Aasheim Obituary

Iles Note ** At this time public gatherings have been limited to 10 people or less. Les' services will be private at 12 noon on Friday, April 3, 2020, at Iles-Westover Chapel and will be live streamed through the Iles website. Please come to Les' obituary page on the www.IlesCares.com website after 11:45 a.m. Friday to join with the service. The livestream will be shown on this page below the obituary or at this link https://youtu.be/-ad7LgYFJtI

Leslie (Les) Marion Aasheim, 82, passed away on March 29 in Des Moines, IA. The son of Norwegian immigrants Henry and Ingrid Aasheim, Les was born at home on a farm in Hamilton County, IA and was the youngest of six siblings. He graduated from McCallsburg High School, attended Waldorf College, went on to serve in the U.S. Army and earned his master’s in education administration from the University of Northern Iowa. Les worked as a teacher and principal for over 35 years, the last 22 years as principal of Stilwell Jr. High School in West Des Moines. He was proud of his work with middle schoolers and enjoyed seeing them excel in academics, athletics and the arts.

Les married Sharon Schwartz in 1966. The two moved from Iowa Falls to Estherville, to Oelwein and finally to Clive, IA where they have lived in the same home since 1977. Les and Sharon made life-long friends wherever they went and still look forward to their annual teacher reunions. During these moves, Les and Sharon also welcomed four children- Tracy Leigh, Eric David, Michael John and Sherri Lynn. Les was active in his children’s lives playing board games and card games with them, spoiling them with ice cream cones and coaching Little League teams. Each summer he took the family to their cabin in Minnesota, which had electricity but no running water, where he taught the kids to fish and water ski.

Les’s father instilled in him a deep sense of civic duty. Les was elected to the Clive city council and served as the mayor of Clive from 2001 to 2009. While serving in city leadership, he also served on the Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors for eight years, the Des Moines Metro Transit Authority, the Iowa Development Association, the Metro Planning Organization and the Iowa Civil Service Commission. He volunteered for the Clive Lions Club, the Clive Historical Society and Windsor Heights Lutheran Church. He was awarded the Matt Parrott Integrity Award in 2007. He was recognized as Clive Citizen of the Year in 1994 and in 2010 a plaza on the corner of 86th St. and University Blvd. in Clive was named in his honor. Most recently, he beamed with pride whenever he talked about the addition to the church building he helped lead as the Chair of the Design and Building Committee.

When Les wasn’t working or volunteering, he enjoyed fishing with buddies, playing cards, making lefse at Christmastime, watching the Hawkeyes and traveling with Sharon. In their retirement, Les and Sharon took many memorable trips including hiking all the way down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up, backcountry backpacking in Idaho so they could fly fish and trips to Europe to visit relatives. He was glad he was able to return to Norway several times and stay connected to his cousins. Les also enjoyed using his table saw and workbench to make items for the grandchildren, make bird feeders and create any other projects we threw his way. Les did not know the word idle, unless it was on a Sunday afternoon after mowing the lawn.

Les is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sharon; children Tracy (Scott) Gerlach of Cedar Rapids, IA, Eric (Sarah) Aasheim of Belchertown, MA, Michael (Gareth) Aasheim-Osborne of Des Moines, IA, Sherri (Nicholas) Bogue of Johnston, IA; grandchildren Zachary, Brycen, Emma, and Jacob Gerlach, Sabrina and Jesse Aasheim, and Andrew and Luke Bogue; brother Harlan (Carol) Aasheim of Mesa, Arizona. He was preceded in death by his parents Henry and Ingrid Aasheim and siblings Raymond, Helen, Astrid and Sherman. There will be a private family service and a future public memorial. In lieu of flowers, Les asked that donations be sent to Windsor Heights Lutheran Church and the Clive Historical Society.

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