ASHTON — An Ashton farm boy who served as the U.S. ambassador to Finland and helped jump-start the annual American Dog Derby, has died.

Keith Foote Nyborg, 89, died on Sunday, Sept. 15, of natural causes.

Current Dog Derby Chairman Jon Scafe said Nyborg did much to help Ashton in many ways. He noted that Nyborg started with ski races that later turned into the Ambassador’s Cup Bike Races.

“That pretty much evolved into the dog sled races. (We) worked together to get them started again,” Scafe said.

According to the “Ashton, Idaho: The Centennial History, 1906-2006” publication. Nyborg had participated in cross-country ski races while serving as the Finland Ambassador in the 1980s.

Nyborg served as the first chairman of the races with the first being held on Feb. 13, 1988. A fierce snowstorm quickly shut down the event, and rescuers were sent out to retrieve stranded skiers, reported the publication. No one suffered injury but many skiers were found everywhere from the Squirrel Store to the Reclamation Road, it reported.

The following year, a 36-mile bike biathlon was held and dubbed the “Ambassador’s Cup Foundation.” It was held again in 1992 in conjunction with the American Dog Derby.

“He was a great guy — just honest and just willing to work with people. He was just always good with people. He was very giving,” Scafe said.

Thanks to the dog sled races, Nyborg helped make Ashton a national destination.

“I would say he helped put Ashton on the map. The mushers, when they talk about how they raced in the American Dog Derby in Ashton, it puts them up on a pedestal with the (other) mushers. We’ve been told that several times by several mushers,” Scafe said.

Nyborg’s influence helps boost the town’s economy every year, he said.

“Between the hotels and restaurants and things like that, I’d have to say anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 is brought in,” Scafe said.

Sad to see Nyborg pass away, Scafe said that he was an inspiration in Ashton.

“I was really proud that I knew him quite well,” Scafe said. “He was a big influence on a lot of people.”

In an interview with the Standard Journal in 2007, Nyborg recalled being selected to serve as Finland’s ambassador by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Nyborg noted that most ambassadors are chosen after years of serving in the State Department or having been contributors to a presidential campaign.

In the Standard Journal article, Nyborg said he believed Reagan wanted an ambassador who spoke Finish, knew something about the country’s culture, history and traditions. Nyborg had served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1950s where he had also helped serve as an interpreter and a guide for the 1952 United States Olympic Team.

Nyborg didn’t think anything would come from the application he was encouraged to send in. That all changed following a phone call on May 6, 1981, that Nyborg received from the White House.

“I received a personal call from President Reagan, and he asked if I would be willing to be an ambassador,” Nyborg said.

From there, Nyborg was Finland bound and said that the people there were very welcoming.

“My wife was my greatest asset,” he said. “I was the first U.S. Ambassador (to Finland) to have a native wife and also speak the language,” he said. “I loved Finland. It was our second home. It is a beautiful country, and the people are very honest and upright.”

The couple spent five years in Finland and later returned to the Upper Valley where they had three children. They also farmed and ranched.

Nyborg returned to Finland several times. He last visited in 2006 at the behest of the late LDS President Gordon Hinckley who asked Nyborg to attend the dedication of the Helsinki Finland Temple.

Nyborg’s funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 23, at the Ashton LDS Stake Center, 512 N. 2nd Street, with Bishop Eric Oberhansley officiating.

The family will receive friends Sunday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Monday from 10 to 10:45 a.m., both times at the stake center. Interment will be in the Wilford Cemetery under the direction of Baxter Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.baxterfh.com.