Art Ashley, a former Nitro mayor, Kanawha County sheriff and state lawmaker, died Monday in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where he lived. He was 83.
Ashley, originally of Nitro, was the town's mayor from 1980 until 1988. He was instrumental in bringing in what is now the Mardi Gras Casino and Resort and the senior housing units Village on Park, according to Rusty Casto, a former Nitro mayor and current Kanawha magistrate.
"It was a pleasure working with him," Casto said. "He had the interest of Nitro at heart."
Casto was a member of city council when Ashley was mayor, Casto said.
After his time as mayor, Ashley went on to serve as Kanawha County Sheriff and served one term in the state House of Delegates, Casto said.
Ashley served two terms as Kanawha County sheriff in the 1990s, Kanawha County Commission president Kent Carper said. Carper said Ashley saw the region's drug epidemic coming before others did and cooperated in some drug investigations with the sheriff's office while he was still Nitro's mayor.
"He really, really enjoyed being the sheriff, I think better than anything he ever did in his life," Carper said. "He was a hands-on sheriff."
Ashley had an interest in the Constitution and loved public service, Carper said.
"I always thought him to be professional, honest and decent," Carper said.
While Ashley was sheriff, an employee apparently embezzled around $250,000 from the sheriff's office, according to Gazette-Mail archives. State Police identified an employee as the sole suspect, but the employee died before being formally charged.
Ashley was also a past president of the Charleston Lions Club and an elder of First Presbyterian Church of Nitro, according to his obituary.
Casto said Ashley had suffered from dementia in recent years. He died an assisted living center in North Carolina, according to his obituary.