Barbara Ashton
Oct. 18, 1927-Jan. 28, 2016
Pleasanton, California

Barbara T. Ashton, who baked thousands and thousands of cookies for others, went home to Jesus on January, 28, 2016. She was 88. As a homemaker and mother, Barbara readily served her family and others. One of her favorite ways was to bake her special oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. She made cookies for the church’s prison ministry, its evangelical outreach, its youth group and groups her children were in as they grew. She learned to make beignets while living in Louisiana. She made them for fundraisers, getting up very early to make the dough so they would be fresh later in the morning. She also made chicken soup from scratch and always had some in the freezer to give to a person who was sick or needed a meal. Her volunteerism extended to the schools, the library book program, youth programs, the Hope Hospice gift shop and the Kaiser facilities in Pleasanton where she logged more than 5,000 hours as volunteer. When her daughter sent her a hand-knitted prayer shawl as Barbara recovered from knee surgery, she in turn started a prayer shawl ministry at Centerpointe. She routinely knitted a shawl each week and the ministry has given more than 500 shawls over the years. She excelled as a seamstress and regularly made costumes for church pageants, kids’ functions and the Balloon Platoon. Dan remembers her stocking up on lining material at an outlet center because it was ideal for costumes. She participated in Bible studies throughout her adult life and was a vociferous reader. When the children were growing, their home was always open to other kids in the neighborhood. She was a “second mom” to many. Barbara and Dan loved to travel and visited all 50 states and 50 countries. Their favorite was river cruising in Europe although they also cruised the Mississippi and Columbia rivers and the St. Lawrence Seaway. They took part in more than 20 Elder Hostel adventures. With the family, they spent lots of summers tent camping and Barbara loved cooking on the open fire. She was born to Theodore and Marie Trappe and grew up in Portland. She met Dan in Portland and they married in 1951. She gave birth to their children in Oregon before Dan’s job took them to Louisiana, Washington and finally Pleasanton in 1975. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Dan Ashton; daughters Gail Stan (Richard), Carla Beckstrom (Scott); her son Blair Ashton (Karen); her brother Robert Trappe (Betty) and three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.