Nov. 10, 1949–April 19, 2022 

It wasn’t uncommon for Brad Ashford ’71 to cross a line, but not in the way you might think. 

The Nebraska senator, who died on April 19 at age 72, made a name for himself as an “independent-minded moderate,” according to the Associated Press.

Throughout this decades-long career, he’d change parties four times and tout his ability to cross party lines with the issues he supported. “Brad didn’t let political parties bother him too much,” state Sen. John McCollister told KMTV. McCollister was also Ashford’s high school classmate. 

At Colgate, Ashford was a history major who earned Phi Beta Kappa distinction and was a member of the London History Study Group. While he was a student, he interned for Republican Sen. Roman Hruska of Nebraska, getting his first taste of politics. Friend and classmate Dan Cattau ’72 remembers Ashford for his detail-oriented nature: “We were both history majors, and it probably is no surprise, given his policy wonk nature, that he took meticulous notes in the heavy-lecture courses, and then retyped them perfectly. This made him quite popular when it came to finals. Instead of studying the night before exams, we took Brad out for pizza and beer — and he generously shared his notes. Everyone won.”

Ashford went on to earn his juris doctor from Creighton University in Omaha, cementing his post-grad residency in the state. A fifth-generation Nebraskan with a passion for public service, Ashford dedicated his life to making the Cornhusker State a better place for residents. Soon after graduating from law school, he began working as a lawyer for the Federal Highway Administration before opening his own practice. 

His political career started in the 1980s with service in the Nebraska legislature from 1987–95 and 2007–15. His accomplishments also include serving as executive director of the Omaha Housing Authority, which developed 300 public housing units during his tenure. In 2014, he fulfilled a lifelong dream and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He made the most of his two years in office, including introducing a bill that was later signed into law establishing a pilot program on partnership agreements to construct new facilities for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

True to his cross-party nature, he later worked alongside Republican Don Bacon, to whom he lost his House of Representatives seat in 2016, to gain federal funding for an initiative supporting victims of gun violence. “He was a friend first, a partisan last,” former Nebraska governor and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson told the Omaha World-Herald, “and Omaha and the state of Nebraska were always tops with Brad.”

Ashford is survived by his wife, Ann; three children; and a granddaughter. 

“He was positive through the end,” his family wrote on Facebook following his death, “and would want you to take today and every day to give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done, tell your loved ones you love them, read some history to learn something, and reach out to lift up your fellow human.”