Ashley Neill Stamper
KNOXVILLE - On the morning of December 8,
2023, Ashley Neill Stamper - beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend to way too many to count
– went to the arms of her merciful Savior. She was 55.
She was born February 20, 1968 in Johnson City, TN to Joseph R. Neill and the late Glenna Ashley Neill.
Fifteen months later, her younger brother Sam was born. Ashley was raised in Greeneville, TN where she was a star student and tennis player for the Greene
Devils. Upon graduation, she attended Salem College as a Presidential Scholar in Winston-Salem, NC where she made lifelong friends with many of her
Salem Sisters, but of special note were Cathy Bowers Petraglia, roommate Becky Miller Saunders and her favorite doubles partner and best friend, Virginia Edmundson Sutton. After graduating from Salem in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Economics she accepted a position with Southern National Bank before accepting a position as a Trust Officer with the former Valley Fidelity Bank.
While at Valley Bank she met, for the second time, W. Todd Stamper. In a manner only Ashley could manage. It was a whirlwind romance from their first date in October to an engagement four months later to a marriage in August 1991. She always told him that he “had outkicked his coverage” and they both knew that to be true. She often explained that they met at a Jimmy Buffet concert and with that as a starting point, what could possibly go wrong. In the fall of 1996 she gave up a stellar career in banking for her lifelong passion and favorite job….Motherhood. She was mother to W. Riley Stamper of Washington, DC and Jones M. Stamper of Boston, MA. While she was a stickler for grades and studies, her favorite time with her boys was watching them on the gridiron at The McCallie School in Chattanooga and Webb School of Knoxville. She was very proud of their dedication to the sport and often joked that she would like to adopt middle schoolers for football long after her boys had matriculated.
Ashley would never share much about her life as she was always more interested and invested in yours and took great joy in that gift. She was a member of Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church since 1997 and served as a Deacon and on the Flower Committee, taught numerous Sunday School classes and loved Fran Dotterweich’s weekly Bible Study. She was a member of the Tequilla Mockingbird Book Club and served - unofficially and unelected - as “The Mayor” of Cherokee Country Club where she effortlessly welcomed new friends and cherished old ones over her 23 years of membership. She was the past president of Nine O’clock Cotillion. Her favorite activity of all was Knoxville Garden Club where she recently served as president-elect and would greatly regret being unable to fulfill that commitment. Indeed, life was fuller because of Ashley, and we are all better for it. Ashley made friends wherever she went and this was her gift. Unfortunately, there are too many names to mention whether it be Salem, McCallie, Webb, Wofford, Auburn and so the list goes on. But in her final days with us the love of her friends was astounding to her family. A very special thank you to Tom and Debaran Hughes, John and Ellen Werner, Pete and Laura Frederick, Mark and Kristin Williams, Brook and Erin Saunders, Mitch and Debby Steenrod, and the most remarkable of angels, Mary Sowell. Special thanks to her caregiving team of Dr. Daniel Ibach (Tennessee Cancer Specialists), Dr. Ben Park (Vanderbilt Medical Center) and Dr. Mike Bernard. Without their efforts her last few weeks would not have been as fruitful and blessed. Ashley was preceded in death by her mother Glenna and sister Sonny. Ashley is survived by her father Joe, brother Sam (Amy) and the center of her universe: her husband Todd, and her sons Riley (fiancé Analisa Stratienko) and Jones (girlfriend Julia Stocklin). A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church on Thursday, December 14th at 3:00 pm., with Rev. Mark Lampley and Rev. Ben Garris officiating. A Reception will immediately follow at Cherokee Country Club. In lieu of flowers, the family would ask you to consider making a gift to Knoxville Garden Club or the American Cancer Society to celebrate Ashley’s life. Online memories and condolences may be shared at rosefuneraltn.com.
John 21:25 - “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”