Juliet Marcia Ashley [1904-1990]

  Juliet Marcia Ashley was born in Jackson, Jackson County, MN, 2 April 1904, daughter of Mark Dexter Ashley and Dora Maria Child, died at Sitka Community Hospital in Sitka, Alaska, 13 January 1990, and was buried in Sitka Memorial Park, Sitka, Alaska, following funeral services in the First Presbyterian Church of Sitka.
  She married in Waseca, Waseca County, MN, 14 October 1952, Byron Burr Lesch who was born in Mount Union, Henry County, Iowa, 9 September 1913, son of Herman Lesch and Julia Popham, died at Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Black Hawk County, Iowa, 18 April 2008, and was cremated for later burial in Sitka Memorial Park, Sitka, Alaska, following a memorial service in Bethel Presbyterian Church in Waterloo, Iowa, 4 October 2008.

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Waseca County News - 29 January 1990

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  SITKA, Alaska - Juliet Ashley Lesch, 85, former Waseca resident, died at Sitka, Alaska on Jan. 13, 1990 after a lengthly illness.

  Mrs. Lesch was born on April 2, 1904, in Jackson, Minn. to Mark and Dora (Child) Ashley.  She attended school for several years in Waseca, staying with an uncle, Frank Wood, former Waseca mayor.  She attended Carleton College and the University of Minnesota, and taught school at several places in Minnesota and in Northbrook, Ill.  Later she returned to Waseca to care for her uncle.

  At the Congregational Church, of which she was an active member, she met Byron Lesch, and they were married in 1951.  The couple later lived in Jackson, Minn. and Sitka, Alaska. A few month before her death, a book of her poems was published, called Poems from Alaska.

  Mrs. Lesch was a granddaughter of James E. Child, well-known Waseca pioneer.

Frank Goodspeed, long-time Waseca resident, now deceased, was her cousin.

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Daily Sitka Sentinel - 16 January 1990

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  Funeral services for Juliet Ashley Lesch, a poet and a long-time resident, were to be held 2 p.m. today at the First Presbyterian Church.

  The Rev. David Morelli was to officiate.  Burial was to follow at Sitka Memorial Park.

  Mrs. Lesch died Saturday at Sitka Community Hospital following a lengthy illness.

  She was born April 2, 1904, in Jackson, Minn., to Mark and Dora (Child) Ashley.  She attended Carleton College at Northfield, Minn., and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.

  She taught at several schools in Minnesota and one at Northbrook, Ill.  From there she went to Waseca, Minn., to care for an uncle, Frank Wood.  It was there that she met Byron Lesch, and they were married in 1951.

  "They moved to Jackson, Minn., in 1956, where they operated the Ashley Hotel, the place where she was born.

  The couple came to Sitka in 1968, and she managed the Bookstore at Sheldon Jackson College until her retirement in 1981.

  She was a long-time member of the American Association of University Women, holding several offices, including that of president, in the local chapter.

  Many of her poems were printed in various publications over the years, and a few months before her death a book of her poems, 'Poems from Alaska,' was published.  The book is illustrated with photos by her husband.

  During her illness, she was frequently assisted by her niece, Francia Hawkin of Madison, N.J.

  Her sister Miriam preceded her in death.

  She is survived by her husband; brothers-in-law Robert Kozelka of Peoria, Ill., and Donald Lesch of Waterloo, Iowa; two nieces; and seven nephews.

  The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be given to be used to provide a Sheldon Jackson College scholarship.