Celebration of Life for Janis Lise Ashford, age 74, of Tuttle, Oklahoma has been rescheduled for 1:00 pm on Monday, February 26, 2018, at the First Baptist Church Newcastle with Nathan Presley officiating. Private family burial will follow in the Geary Cemetery under the direction of Jackson Funeral Home of Frederick. Mrs. Ashford, beloved mother and grandmother, went to meet Jesus, her precious Lord and Savior, face to face on February 19, 2018, after a brave and determined fight against cancer.

Jan was born on April 7, 1943 to Colonel Edward Peter and Virginia (Coyle) Ketcham. She had a very interesting childhood, living in many places as a military child, including Japan and Hawaii. She was a regular member of the panel on the television show Juvenile Jury . She was the Oklahoma representative to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. She graduated from high school at St. Andrew's Priory in Honolulu, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, she was a DJ for the local radio station and was able to meet many teen celebrities like Elvis and Chubby Checker. She also appeared as an extra in the movie Blue Hawaii . She graduated with a fashion marketing degree from the University of Oklahoma and went to work in New Orleans as a customer service manager for AT&T.

The greatest joy in her life came from her children and grandchildren. She raised Wendy and Chris in New Orleans with the help of her parents. While in New Orleans, she worked as the manager of two different retail stores and then became a successful real estate agent.

She and the rest of the family moved to Oklahoma in 1989 to be near other relatives. There Jan worked as a receptionist for a surgeon at Mercy Hospital before retiring.

Jan was an active member at Putnam City Baptist Church, Village Baptist Church, Quail Springs Baptist Church and was most recently a member at First Baptist Church Newcastle. She was a member of Bible Study Fellowship for many years.

One of her favorite activities was playing Canasta. She loved her Canasta friends and missed them all so much when she could no longer play.

Jan will be remembered for her beautiful smile and her sweet attitude even during many trials. She loved her family and friends and would have done anything for them. She will be greatly missed.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Colonel Edward P. and Virginia M. Ketcham, and her son, Christopher Heath Ashford.

She leaves behind a daughter and son-in-law, Wendy and Jeff Landes of Tuttle, nine grandchildren, Melissa, Jessica, Madeline, Joshua, Melody, Jonathan and Malachi Landes all of Tuttle, and Conner and Lindsay Ashford of Jenks.