Aubrey attended school in New Home, MO. He worked as a farmhand on a family farm at Amsterdam, MO from 1937 to 1942. In November 1942 he joined the United States Army. He served in a tank battalion as crew member and commander during WWII. He served 16 months in France, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. After leaving the military in January 1946 he was a truck driver and farmer. He was married to Pearlie Mae (Bass) Hartsell for 40 years. After he retired he loved to fish and pick up pecans.
He was preceded in death by four brothers, David W. Hartsell, Raymond Hartsell, Walter D. Hartsell and Robert Leon Hartsell; and three sisters, Mary K. Leuty, Clara Belle Martin and Blanche M. Chamberlain. He is survived by his wife, Pearlie Mae of Stockton, MO; one brother, George LeRoy Hartsell and his wife, Lois, of Archie, MO; two step-daughters, Ann Aliey and her husband of Stockton, MO and Sue Carey and her husband of Kansas City, MO; and many nephews and nieces.