Katherine Ashton

Chicago, IL- Katherine (Kathy) Day Ashton, 78, passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 25, 2022 with her daughter by her side after a prolonged struggle with complications from multiple sclerosis.

Born Katherine Louise Day to the late Almon and Ruth Day, August 4, 1943, in Lewiston, Maine, Kathy was the eldest of three children, followed by her late brother James and her sister Susan. After graduating from Edward Little High School in Auburn in 1961, she earned her nursing degree from the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Hanover, New Hampshire.

There she fell in love with a Dartmouth student named Edward (Ted) Ashton, and they married February 22, 1964. After both graduated, they moved to to Ted's hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah, where Kathy gave birth to her first and only child that November. They spent the next several years on the move, first to Denver, then Orlando, then Hartford, where Kathy continued her nursing career while Ted ascended the ranks with Traveler's Insurance. In 1972 they returned to Salt Lake to settle permanently. Kathy worked for two years at the Salt Lake Clinic and then moved to the Bryner Clinic, while also becoming certified as a pediatric nurse practitioner.

An MS flareup in 1979 led Kathy to retire from nursing, but the next year brought a long remission that enabled her to pursue her lifelong interest in literature and art. In the early 1980s she volunteered as a docent at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and in the mid-80s she was admitted to Westminster College to earn a BA in English, where she excelled. She was elected to membership in the national honor society Sigma Tau Delta, served as Senior Class President, and graduated summa cum laude. Following graduation, she took a new position at her dream job as it turned out at at her favorite local bookstore, The King's English.

Kathy was a passionate and voracious reader from an early age as well as a gifted writer, and she found a home for both talents writing reviews and copyediting for the bookstore's popular newsletter, The Inkslinger. During her years with the bookstore, Kathy developed close friendships with the store's co-owners, as well as with many of the writers who came through for book signings. Kathy's warmth, generosity, and loyalty attracted enduring friendships everywhere she lived and worked.

Kathy enjoyed a fulfilling 50-year marriage with her husband Ted, traveling abroad to England, France, Spain, and Mexico and enjoying many road trips together in the U.S. They remained devoted to each other until Ted passed unexpectedly in 2014. Soon afterward Kathy moved to Chicago, where she remained, lovingly cared for by her daughter Jennifer Ashton and son-in-law Walter Benn Michaels and the dedicated staff at Warren Barr Gold Cost. Kathy is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, as well as by sister and brother-in-law Susan and Gary Abbott of Kennebunk, Maine; sisters- and brothers-in-law Julie and William Barrett, Jr., Coralie and Bruce Alder, and Deborah Ashton of Salt Lake City, and Anne and Rich Lowe of Castle Rock, Colorado; as well as many beloved nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews.

A celebration of Kathy's life will be held at Starks Funeral Parlor. The family asks that those who wish to do so give donations to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society or Red Butte Garden in lieu of sending flowers.