Ashley's funeral was held on Tuesday, November 27, 2001, at 2:00 PM at the Waxahachie Civic Center. We arranged for use of the Civic Center because we wanted to be sure to have enough room for the anticipated crowd.

Waxahachie Civic Center
Waxahachie Civic Center

There were almost 2,000 people in attendance at Ashley's funeral. What an incredible tribute to the impact this one little girl had on so many people's lives!

A very special "thank you" to Ron Ansell for helping with many of the arrangements for the funeral. We could not have done it without him!

And another very special "thank you" to the entire staff of the Civic Center, who went out of their way to make sure everything was "just right" for the funeral.


NOTE: In order to listen to songs, you will need the free RealPlayer.


Prelude Music (played as people arrived)

  1. "Ashokan Farewell" (listen with RealPlayer)
    by Jay Ungar
    from Waltz of the Wind
    by Fiddle Fever, produced by Jay Ungar and Fiddle Fever
    © 1984 Flying Fish Records, Inc.
    from the CD "Original Soundtrack Recording: The Civil War"
    © 1990 Elektra Entertainment

  2. "Claudia's Theme" (listen with RealPlayer)
    by Clint Eastwood
    Warner Bros. Music Corp. / ASCAP
    (featured in the movie "Unforgiven")
    from the CD "Western Movie Themes"
    © 1993 Delta Music Inc.


  3. "On My Way Home"
    from the CD "Enya: The Memory of Trees"

  4. "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday"
    from the CD "Boyz II Men: Cooleyhighharmony"

  5. "Say Goodnight"
    from the CD "Beth Nielsen-Chapman: Sand and Water"

Seating of Pallbearers and Family
Song: "He Knows" (listen with RealPlayer)

by J. T. Liles
performed by Jerome Williams and Free Indeed
from the CD "Sing A New Song: Volume Five"
© 1996 gentle Angel publishing Company
http://www.freeindeed.org

Pallbearers (all in FFA Dress Uniform):

Louie Cravens, President, Waxahachie FFA
Tres Lowry, 1st Vice President, Waxahachie FFA
Wil Oliver, 2nd Vice President, Waxahachie FFA
Dustin Junkin, 2nd Vice President, Waxahachie FFA
Duff Morrow, 2nd Vice President, Waxahachie FFA
Justin Praslicka, 2nd Vice President, Waxahachie FFA
Dustin Patman
Chris Morgan


Obituary and Comments

Dean Kilmer, Minister
College Street Church of Christ
Waxahachie, Texas


Song: "Peace" (listen with RealPlayer)
by Julie Jouvenaux
performed by Jerome Williams and Free Indeed
from the CD "Sing A New Song: Volume Five"
© 1996 gentle Angel publishing Company
http://www.freeindeed.org


A Tribute To Ashley

Richard Gookin
Long-time family friend


Song: "Hide Me Away, O Lord" (listen with RealPlayer)
by Keith Lancaster
from the CD "In God We Trust" (Acappella Praise & Worship)
© 1995 Anthony K. Music
The Acappella Company Online Store


Message and Comments

Walter Buchanan, Retired Minister
College Street Church of Christ
Waxahachie, Texas


Celebrating the Life of Ashley

A slide show with pictures from Ashley's life, arranged by Paul O'Rear and set to music.

Click here to see the pictures from the slide show.

Music used in slide show:

  1. "Ashley Jean" (listen with RealPlayer)
    by Paul O'Rear
    © 1987 Bird and Sally Music

    This is a song that I made up and would sing to Ashley when she was a baby and I would sit and rock her. A couple of weeks before Ashley died, we were all lying on our bed and Susan asked me to sing it to Ashley again, so I did. Shortly after Ashley died, Susan told me that she wanted the song played at Ashley's funeral, so I recorded it and played it at the beginning of the slide show. I also found a recording of Ashley saying "Hello, this is Ashley" from a telephone answering machine tape that we recorded when Ashley was just a toddler; and a recording of her giggling when she was a baby, so I dubbed those two "sound bites" into the beginning and end of the song.


  2. "Beauty and the Beast"
    Performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson
    from the CD "Walt Disney Presents Beauty and the Beast, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"

    This is a very special song for a couple of reasons. I had a MIDI version of this song on the "Ashley's Story" web page at cancerkids.org for several years -- Ashley was "Beauty" and the cancer monster was "The Beast". On our family "dream trip" to New York City just a few weeks before Ashley died (furnished by a wonderfully generous benefactor), we went to see the Broadway play "Beauty and the Beast". It was magnificent! Ashley had already seen the play on a previous trip to New York with a school group, but she loved it so much that she wanted to see it again. The song brings back cherished memories of that wonderfully fun time spent together as a family shortly before her death.

  3. "Precious Child" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Written and performed by Karen Taylor-Good
    Courtesy of The Compassionate Friends
    (Order a tape or CD of this beautiful song here)

    This is an incredibly powerful song that I came across a few years ago while researching web sites for cancerkids.org. "The Compassionate Friends" is a nationwide network of support groups for grieving parents, and this has sort of become their theme song. The words to this song are beautiful, as is the music. Have a tissue handy, or perhaps a whole box, before you start to listen.

Viewing

The following songs were played as people passed by the casket to pay their final respects.

  1. "God Bless You, Go With God" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Performed by His Image Singers
    from the CD "The Best of His Image Singers: Volume III"

  2. http://www.hisimagesingers.com
    This was one of Ashley's all-time favorite "church" songs. It had become the "signature" song for our summer camp session at Iron Springs Christian Camp, which Ashley had attended for several years. Any time our church youth group was together and singing songs, Ashley would always request that we sing this song.

  3. "He is Wonderful" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Performed by "Best Friends" from Lubbock Christian University

  4. This is an awesome song that our youth group learned during Ashley's final summer camp session at Iron Springs in July 2001.

  5. "The Greatest Commands" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Performed by Jerome Williams and Free Indeed
    from the CD "Sing A New Song: Volume Eight"
    © 1999 gentle Angel publishing Company
    http://www.freeindeed.org


  6. "You Are My All in All" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Performed by Jerome Williams and Free Indeed
    from the CD "Sing A New Song: Volume Seven"
    © 1996 gentle Angel publishing Company
    http://www.freeindeed.org


  7. "Create in Me a Clean Heart" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Performed by Jerome Williams and Free Indeed
    from the CD "Sing A New Song: Volume Seven"
    © 1996 gentle Angel publishing Company
    http://www.freeindeed.org


  8. "Day By Day" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Performed by Jerome Williams and Free Indeed
    from the CD "Sing A New Song: Volume Four"
    © 1996 gentle Angel publishing Company
    http://www.freeindeed.org


  9. "When the Night is Falling" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Words and Music by Dennis L. Jernigan
    Arranged by Ken Young
    © 1991 Shepherd's Heart Music
    from the CD "Sacrifice: The Singer's Worship Series - 7"
    Distributed by Howard Publishing Company


  10. "Whispering Hope" (listen with RealPlayer)
    Performed by His Image Singers
    from the CD "The Best of His Image Singers: Volume III"
    http://www.hisimagesingers.com

Display Items

On display at Ashley's funeral were several special items:

  1. A framed, poster-sized copy of the famous "Purple Sunglasses" picture of Ashley. This picture was taken just a few months before Ashley's original cancer diagnosis. It has always been one of my favorite pictures of her. It is "famous" because it is the picture that I first posted on her cancer story web page, and people all over the world have seen it.


  2. A poster-sized copy of Ashley's Professional Headshot picture, which was taken in October 1999 when she was considering pursuing a career in acting. This is probably my all-time favorite picture of her, and captures her spirit and personality remarkably.


  3. Ashley's brand new FFA (Future Farmers of America) jacket. This jacket had been rush-ordered and personally delivered to Ashley by three of the FFA officers, just a few weeks before her death. 4H and FFA were a huge part of Ashley's life the last four years, so this jacket is very significant, and she was very proud of it. (The three young men who delivered the jacket to Ashley also served as pallbearers at the funeral.)


  4. A football jersey with Ashley's name printed on the back of it, and the number "1" on the front and back. Ashley and Justin both received jerseys from the Waxahachie High School Quarterback Club just before the last big regular-season game with Waxahachie's long-time rival Ennis High School. Our family was allowed to watch the game from the sidelines, and one-half of the proceeds from program sales for that game were given to our family to help with expenses related to Ashley's care. (The other half of the money was given to the family of a young man from Ennis who had been seriously injured in a football game the previous year.)


  5. An over-the-shoulder "Miss American Junior Teen: State Finalist" pageant banner that Ashley wore when she participated in the American Coed Pageant in Houston, July 2001. Her cousin Josh escorted her on stage for the pageant, where she won the "Spirit Award: Promoting Friendship and Sportsmanship". Ashley was the only contestant to receive a standing ovation when presented with her award.


  6. A green-and-white-striped Waxahachie Indians basketball, autographed by all of Waxahachie High School's Varsity Basketball players, both boys and girls. This ball was presented to Ashley shortly before her death.


  7. A football autographed by the entire Waxahachie High School football team and coaching staff, also presented to Ashley shortly before her death.


  8. A baseball autographed by the entire Texas A&M University baseball team, also presented to Ashley shortly before her death.


  9. Ashley's 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games Olympic Torch. Ashley had been selected to be a torchbearer for the Olympic Torch Relay for the 2002 games, to help carry the torch as it came through the Dallas area. Less than a week before Ashley's death, she received a visit from Nikki Stone, 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist Freestyle Aerial Skier, who presented Ashley with her very own Olympic Torch to carry in the relay and then keep as a souvenir. Ashley's younger brother Justin was chosen by the Olympic Committee to carry the torch in Ashley's place on December 12, 2001.


  10. A scrapbook prepared by Justin, showing pictures of Ashley. Each picture had a handwritten caption. Under one of the pictures of Ashley, Justin wrote the words, "My Hero". He spent several hours carefully constructing each page of the book, then left several blank pages for people to sign. It was a beautiful tribute from a 12-year-old precious boy to his beloved sister.