Introduction — Ashcroft Peterson Histories

Theron Milton Ashcroft lived more than forty of his adult years in Cedar City, Utah. He was among the most influential men of Southern Utah. He was an outstanding teacher and leader in the Education Community. He associated with and worked with politicians and government officials. He was equally comfortable with the farmers and ranchers of Southern Utah. He was a teacher, a farmer, an outdoorsman, a tour guide, a family man, a story teller, and a church leader. His influence was, at once, both broad and very individual as will be seen by some of the letters included in this history. He was a man of few words, but he gave solid specific counsel. He provided opportunities for those who wanted to work and to learn, but he had little patience for fools. He was my dad, and I want my posterity to know about him and how he shaped my life. Some of this information came from stories daddy told about his own growing up. Some of it was recorded by my sister, Anne. Much of it is taken from letters and documents I have collected and from my own personal recollections.

Judith Ashcroft Peterson, 2017

This painting of Theron was done by Gail Lindstrom, Professor of Art at Utah State University. While I do not know exactly how he and daddy became such good friends, I do know that Gail liked to paint scenes of the Southwest. Daddy took him to Walpi and the other mesas in Arizona many times and I have one of Gail’s Indian paintings. Gail snapped a photo of Theron on one of their outings and then painted this portrait. It is said that a picture says a thousand words. This is a very good likeness of Theron, but more importantly, it says a thousand words about his character.