Judith Phyllis Ashlock's Obituary
Judy McKnight Ashlock was born on Nov 27, 1955, in Texas City, Texas, to Hugh and Barbara (Lansing) McKnight. She passed from this life on Aug 23, 2021, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was preceded in death by her parents, her older sister Holly, and her beloved husband Thomas Alva Ashlock. She is survived by her sister-in-law Joann Stattel, brother-in-law Johnny Ashlock, 2 nephews Erich Stattel and Jason Ashlcok, her extended family, and many loving friends.
Judy was a devoted Christian, a generous and loyal friend, a loving family member, and an avid cat lover.
In her younger days, Judy was quite a traveler. She enjoyed exotic places, such as Hawaii, Cancun, Panama, Columbia, and Canada, and also loved seeing many places across the United States. She was always up for an adventure, and nothing was too much for her, although she often got into predicaments. Like the time when she was still a toddler and traveling with her parents. She was uncomfortable, so she took off her own dirty diaper and threw it out the window—where it landed on the windshield of a police car. Her parents were not amused when they were pulled over. Or the time she was traveling with Terrye Gamblin in Columbia when they and the other passengers were herded off the tour bus by a gang of men with machine guns. Spoiler alert: they survived. Her friend, Judy Jackson, remembers a boat ride in Cancun, when she was violently throwing up over the side of the boat. Always looking on the bright side, Judy came up to her friend and said, “It appears you are feeding the fish today!”
Especially in her younger years, Judy was very athletic. She loved to exercise, and she loved sports. Two of her favorite activities were softball and running. Her teammates still fondly remember how tall, graceful, and powerful she was. When her knees wore out, Judy began to walk for exercise. It is in her love for walking that she met Tom. It didn’t take long for her to realize that she was falling for him, and after a short courtship, Tom and Judy were married on Oct 7, 1995. They had eighteen wonderful years together.
Judy loved her family and her friends fiercely. She was always willing to help a friend or neighbor by watching their dogs or cats, opening her home for people to live or to just have a retreat from the world, by just being available, and many other kind and generous acts. She continually shared her gift of hospitality.
Towards the end of Judy’s life, her hands were a bit shaky. But she continued to use them to hug people, to love on cats, to take care of plants and flowers, to write many encouraging cards to members of her Sunday School class and close friends, to take care of children in the nursery, and to greet church members. In fact, she loved greeting people so much, Bruce Leake remembers a time when she dragged a person into their church that didn’t even go there but was just passing by. Her hands, like her heart, were full of love and compassion.
Most of all, Judy loved her Lord. Her faith was unwavering and very contagious. In all of her health issues, and particularly at the end, she trusted the Lord to take care of her. One of the last things she told one friend was that, after the doctors told her they really didn’t know if she would get better or go on home to be with the Lord, Judy replied: “I win either way!” She definitely won when she went home to join her family and her loving Lord.
Her family and friends will miss her greatly. Still, as her friends have reminisced over the last week, we were reminded of the song by Michael W. Smith, “Friends Are Friends Forever, if the Lord is Lord of Them.” We are so thankful we can truly say we will be friends with Judy forever.
Visitation will be 4-6 pm, Tuesday, August 31, 2021 at Floral Haven Funeral Home.
Funeral Service will be 3:00 pm, Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at Floral Haven Chapel.
If you cannot attend the service in person webcasting will be available at the following link: https://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/59552/hash:6554F81465B75F45
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