Judy Ashley
Loved Her Family and Books
by Marilyn O'Brien
On a warm summer day, July 31st to be exact, in 1943, Adrian and Lucile Smith gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. They named her Judith Ann. Shortly after her birth, Adrian wrote in his diary that she “... is a well-behaved girl. She keeps her crying at a minimum, eats heartily and noisily.” Judith was born at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan and lived in the capital city throughout her youth. She attended school in the Lansing Catholic system and graduated from St. Mary’s Cathedral High School in 1961, then went on to Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, and finally graduated with a degree in Geography from Michigan State University.
There was one interruption to her time in school. When she was in the 4th grade, her parents sent her with her maternal grandparents, John and Fern Morduff, to Bradenton, Florida, to attend school. A doctor had suggested that a warmer climate might help her with health issues.
During her time at MSU, she met David Snook of Mason, Michigan, whom she married on June 11, 1966. The young couple moved to Ann Arbor while David completed his medical degree. During that time, Judy taught Geography in the Plymouth Michigan School System. They moved to Portland, Oregon, for his internship and then on to southern California, then Bartlett, Tennessee before setting up a private practice. During these years, they had two daughters, Jennifer Lynn and Jessica Adrianne.
In order to pick a place to set up practice, Judy and David bought a Winnebago, took their two girls out of school, and traveled for six months around the United States looking at possible locations. The family always called it, “The Six-Month Trip.” They finally decided on Burns, Oregon, a small town (two stop lights) in the eastern part of the state.
In Burns, the Snooks settled in and David opened a General Practice. Judy worked as the Office Manager. During this time, she made lots of lifelong friends, started a writing club, and assisted the Drama Club at the local high school. She embraced the Western life style in Burns and soon could be seen riding around town wearing boots, jeans, and a cowgirl hat in a pickup truck. Her life centered around the two daughters and she spent endless hours reading to them, teaching them how to paint and draw, and encouraging them to be curious and loving children.
Judy eventually moved to McMinnville, Oregon after divorce separated the family. She worked for Yamhill County during her stay there. Due to this job, she became interested in environmental issues and was always a big recycler. Throughout these years she continued a lifelong love for books and reading and was a regular at the library where she ran a monthly meeting called, Book Chats. Attendees were encouraged to share information about a book they had read recently.
Her Oregon years were filled with lots of experiences including the beginning of an interest in John C. Fremont and his wife, Jesse. Judy became an expert on them. She collected items relating to the two of them and lectured in various locations about their adventurous lives. She commissioned Charles LaMonk, a well-known California artist, to paint images of the two. These now hang in Jessica’s (Jesse Fremont’s namesake) home in Montgomery Village, Maryland.
In July of 1995, Judy and her daughter Jessica, moved to Montgomery County, Maryland via a huge Ryder truck, which Judy drove across country. Judy served as the Executive Director for the Southern Maryland Heritage League for a short time and then moved on to be an administrative assistant at Mele, an engineering consulting firm in Rockville.
Her love of books and reading continued supplemented with writing, painting, and sewing. She never hesitated to take up a new hobby — and then would pursue it with vigor. She was an active member of a Book Club with Christine Meister, Oleta Perotti, Diane Aldred, Connie Chaskes, Becky Frost, Michelle Yam, and her sister, Marilyn O’Brien. She spent endless hours on family history — doing research, devising ways to organize the information, and searching for grave markers. Volumes of notebooks and a full file cabinet now fill a closet at her daughter’s home.
Her interest in reading eventually led her to start a club called Literary Connections. Basically, it was a field trip group. On the third Saturday of almost every month for 12 years, the members went to some interesting place in the Washington DC area. The group also went on away-weeks or weekends: Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Red Cloud, Nebraska, Bethany Beach, Delaware, and Ireland. To this day, members recall these outings with great fondness. Everyone seems to wish that we could continue these adventures. Judy also published a newsletter each month which suggested books to read about the place they were visiting.
After Literary Connections ended, she began taking classes at Osher along with many other friends. When Covid struck, the classes were conducted on Zoom and she participated. She loved these classes which ranged from baseball to Moby Dick. Osher published articles written by her in its newsletter. These were reproduced on the Ring of Kerry Irish Dancers website, a group she was a member of for many years. Two of her works are: Portrait of a Superhero (or see the link in the Other News section of this Blarney! article page) and The Best Kind of Childhood Playmate.
Judy’s accomplishments were many, but none more important than her loving relationship with her daughters Jessie and Jenny, and grandchildren, Ashlynn, Joseph, and Delphia. She spent endless hours talking with each of them and always found time to listen. She imparted her wisdom to them and tried to set them on a good course in life.
She is survived by her daughters Jennifer (Hyla) Tracy and Jessica (David) Heller; by her grandchildren Ashlynn, Joseph, and Delphia; and her sister Marilyn (Michael) O’Brien. She will be greatly missed by this small, but loving family.
If you are interested in making a donation in her memory, the family suggests these but please feel free to donate to the charity of your choice:
