Barbara Joan Asher
On behalf of the Asher family, it is with profound sorrow that we announce the peaceful passing of our beloved mother, Barbara Joan (née Armstrong) Asher.
Born in Berlin, New Hampshire on September 6, 1931, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Albertine (née Ruel) Armstrong. She received her undergraduate degree at Plymouth Teachers College and received her master’s degree in French from Middlebury College L’Ecole de Français. In 1959 she studied French in Paris and Nice as a Fulbright grantee where she received her Diplome at the Sorbonne Université de Paris. She moved from France to Greenwich, CT to become a member of the faculty at Greenwich High School as a French teacher. Soon after, she met her husband and our beloved father, William F. Asher at a dinner party in Greenwich.
In her later years, she became a Program Director at the Greenwich Senior Center. Until her move to North Carolina in 2015, she was a parishioner of Saint Mary Church in Greenwich where she served on the Ladies Guild and served for a term as President of the Parish Council. She also served on the board of Utilize Senior Energy and was a member of the Alliance Française.
She was predeceased by her husband William Francis Asher and her four siblings: Leona Greene (MA), Norman Armstrong (CT), Francis Armstrong (NH) and Pauline Tatham (NH).
She is survived by her children: Joan Marie Asher of Stamford CT, Beth Ann Asher of Greenwich, CT, William Armstrong Asher of Hillsborough, NC and Amy Asher Callahan of Apex, NC.
She is also survived by four grandchildren: Christina Lynne Anthony, Jack William Callahan, Julia Rose Callahan, and Liam Francis Asher and two great-granddaughters Sienna
Joy Anthony and Mila Grace Anthony.
What a blessed life she led having done almost everything imaginable during her 89 years on earth. Classy and well-traveled, she had impeccable taste and a sense of humor like none other. The Francophile that she was could be seen in everything she did. Her cooking, decorating and entertainment skills were bar none. She loved socializing and volunteering and was an endless source of good humor and positive energy to everyone around her. If there was a piano with a microphone in a room, rest assured she would be singing La Vie en Rose where she would have the crowd on their feet dancing and laughing without exception.
She did it her way and remained true to herself right up until the end which was representative of the strong woman she was. Thank you, mom, for each other, for the life lessons, for the laughter, and the love through the years. Join our family in raising a glass of champagne to a legacy of a life well lived. “Do not fear the mortal life, but rather the unlived life. You do not have to live forever. You just have to live.”’
A mass of Christian burial and celebration of life will be celebrated in Greenwich, Connecticut at time yet to be determined. Contributions to her memory may be made to Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org