James Dennis Ashworth

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of James Ashworth on Wednesday July 27, 2022, in Calgary, Alberta, at the age of 82.

James passed away peacefully in the afternoon at the Peter Lougheed Hospital. James spent only a short time in hospital before he passed and was quite happy he was able to remain living at home throughout his years with dementia including late-stage. Special thanks to his brother, Allan and niece, Raena for all the work it took to make that wish a reality for James.

James (Jim) was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in the Spring of 1940 just after the great depression and during the Second World War. He did all of this schooling in the area and mid way through high school he answered an ad in the local News Paper and got a job selling magazines door to door. It turned out he was quite good at it and that job set him on his career path for life. A natural salesman he worked numerous jobs in his lifetime including selling AMA insurance and traveling the globe, living in the UK and Australia, selling maps to schools, among other sales roles.

Married twice, he had two families and raised 5 kids total. His first family was raised in an idyllic setting on an acreage near Red Deer, Alberta, with his lovely wife Helen. An avid animal lover James could always be found feeding and caring for any animals in the vicinity. He once brought home an abandoned baby hawk that the family lovingly raised.

A lover of billiards he excelled in pool and passed the love of the game down to his eldest daughter, Janice.

His second family, raised in the city, meant he would head outdoors as much as possible and enjoyed golf with friends, and spending time at the lake and camping with the kids and his second wife, Cherry.

Jimmy, the natural salesman, couldn’t help but pass his salesmanship down to his children who would often find themselves spending Summers learning the door to door sales techniques from Dad, for better or worse.

Jimmy lived in the moment, he made big money and spent big too. He loved to gamble, play bingo or cards and enjoy a nice steak dinner regularly.

Later in life when the work travel stopped and things settled down he moved back to Calgary and lived with his brother Allan. He even reconnected with his old friend, Stanley, who he first met back in Moose Jaw as a teen selling magazines door to door.

In Jim’s twilight years he continued living with his brother and their 2 cats and also continued to feed all of the critters outside his home from the mice to the squirrels and all the birds.

James is survived by his brother Allan and their two shared cats Kimmy and Francis; and his 5 children, Janice, Derrick (Julie), Cyril (Connie), Dennis, and Samantha, and 6 grandchildren, Dylan and Oliver, Tytus, Athena, Atticus, and Kassia, and by his niece Raena.

James was predeceased by his parents; Dennis Ashworth, and Evelyn Clark and step father Tom Clark.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the

Calgary Humane Society.