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Andrea Ash of Davison remembered as inspiration[/size]
by David Harris | The Flint Journal
Monday September 29, 2008, 9:13 PM
DAVISON, Michigan -- Andrea Ash of Davison used singing as an outlet for the pain she had from a rare respiratory syndrome.
"Music made her feel good," her father Jeff Ash said. "It made her feel like she had the medicine she never could have. It was good food for her soul."
Andrea Ash, who went by Annie, died Friday at age 23 from acute respiratory distress syndrome, which led to heart failure.
She was diagnosed at age 13 and the disease progressed as time went on. But Jeff Ash said his daughter was strong throughout her illness.
"She always had a smile," he said. "She cared about other people more than herself. She was just an unselfish, caring individual. She never looked at her pain."
Annie Ash sang at church and on the Kearsley High School choir before her graduation in 2004.
She also sang at hospitals where she was being treated.
"She could light up a room," he said. "It brought her joy and calmness. She knew that people liked it. It was just a gift that she gave to others."
Annie Ash went to the University of Michigan-Flint Summer Music Camp for many years.
She also worked at Rite Aid in the pharmacy department in Genesee Township until about a year ago.
Jeff Ash said her daughter didn't see the pharmacy work as a constant reminder of her illness. Rather, she used her knowledge of medicine to help people, her father said.
"That's what made her so special," he said. "A lot of people didn't know about medicines and she could say, 'I'm on that.' She could tell them a lot about it. It made her feel good when she could help people like that."
She was enrolled at Baker College.
Jeff Ash said his daughter was an inspiration for all.
"It made us realize that some of our problems weren't anything like what she was going through," he said. "It was almost like magic."
The funeral is 11 a.m. Tuesday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 706 W. Flint St., Davison.
She leaves behind parents Jeff and Rose Ash; brother, Eric; grandparents, George and Shirley Moore; Marilynn Ball and Shirley Bock; and sister-in-law, Vanessa.