Elder Marvin J. Ashton was always active in church work - and sports.
In a 1971 Church News interview he said, "I started to play tennis when I was about 12 years old. I have been playing ever since."He admits that one of the reasons he dated Norma Berntson, his future bride, was her parents' tennis court.
While serving a mission in England, he was captain of a championship basketball team.
He directed and supervised all church athletic activities for more than 25 years. Under his direction, the athletic programs were expanded to include junior basketball, junior softball, golf, volleyball and, of course, tennis.
In 1951, he was a member of the winning all-church men's doubles team; in 1954, he and his wife won the mixed doubles championship in the all-church tennis tournament; in 1969, they were in the final.
His favorite tennis partner was his wife. Off the court, he was a perfect gentleman. He helped his wife out of the car and walked her into the court arm-in-arm. "But when we're on the court competing, it's a different life," he said. He admitted he was a competitor.
Elder Ashton felt that there was a kind of spiritual value in athletic competition. "When you walk out on a tennis court, all you have is your racket - it doesn't matter what degrees you hold or what standing you have in the community."
As part of his lifelong interest in athletics, he kept himself physically fit by jogging a mile every morning and playing tennis.
In speaking on personal physical fitness, Elder Ashton said, "You owe it to yourself to keep fit. No matter how busy or how involved you are, you should have some type of physical program to keep the body in tune."