Rita Peters

Palmer resident Rita B. Ashmore Peters, 88, died Dec. 7, 2010, in the Palmer Pioneer’s Home from complications due to Alzheimer’s.

Rita was born Sept. 18, 1922, in Montreal, Canada to the late J.C. and Anna (Viens) Gagnon. She arrived in Alaska the summer of 1948 where she met and married Elroy Ashmore in June 1949. They lived a military life, transferring to Georgia, California and back to Alaska in 1960, where they purchased a farm at the corner of Trunk and Bogard roads.

Rita loved working in her greenhouses, and for several years sold fuchsias, tomatoes and bedding plants from their farm. She loved to travel, especially on cruises, and to vacation in Hawaii. She was an avid bridge player and enjoyed gatherings with her sisters and their families. She was a long-standing member of Saint Michael’s Catholic Church and volunteered at the Bishops Attic Thrift Store.

Rita was preceded in death by her husband Elroy Ashmore, and second husband Robert Peters, and numerous siblings from her large family.

She is survived by her children and their spouses; Robert and Beverly Ashmore, James and Amy Ashmore, Carolyn and Tom Tolson, Michelle and Russ Bianchi and Elroy Ashmore and Nancy Hobson; grandchildren, Leanne Schuck, Shannon Ashmore, Sam Ashmore, Anne Palmer, LaLaine Ashmore, Macy Ashmore, Brian Ashmore, Theresa Tolson-Horning, Tina Tolson-Mahurin, Marilyn Payne, Victoria Bianchi, Joel Ashmore and 14 great-grandchildren. Sisters, Lucille Daunais of Anchorage, Theresa Mills of San Diego Calif., and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at a later date. There will be no viewing.