Bernard F. Ashe

I write this through tears. We have lost a friend and the world has lost a jewel.

Bernard F. Ashe was a modest man who didn’t like to talk about himself, saying you can look it up, but he had an enormous amount to be proud of. As a Black man he was a first and only at many things but, never a token, he changed everything he touched for the better. Bernard played a role in the Civil Rights Movement and in the integration of the American Bar Association where he was eventually invited to join their board of Governors. He came to Albany as general counsel of New York State United Teachers where he served for decades, shaping New York employment law from that position.

I know from personal experience the enormous respect other lawyers had for him. Not long after we met, I invited Bernard to a meeting of the legal committee of the Capital Region Chapter of the NYCLU where a few quietly put questions changed our course.

But we knew Bernard as a friend, a lovely, thoughtful, caring man. We will always miss him but always feel blessed to have known him.