Our beloved mother, grandmother and friend, Helen Wood Ashton, died on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, at age 88 after a brief illness. She always said she wanted to join her loved ones in heaven without having to linger or become incapacitated. We miss her deeply but are truly grateful that her wish was granted.

She was born Aug. 13, 1935, to Reed and Virginia Wood in Holden, Utah, the oldest of three children. She enjoyed an idyllic small-town childhood, first in Delta, Utah, where her family had an outhouse rather than indoor plumbing. One of her first memories was being accidentally locked inside. Her family later moved to Holden, where her father made the bricks from scratch to build their family home, which gratefully included a bathroom. Their new home was a few steps away from Wood's Market, a country store that her parents purchased from Reed's grandfather.

The rest of her childhood was spent between home and working at the store, stocking the shelves, measuring out cloth, running the cash register and helping to process and package deer meat during hunting season. At home, she enjoyed playing ball, climbing trees and putting on plays with her brothers and friends. On Sundays she listened to the radio, took walks around town with girlfriends, played board games and enjoyed drives with her family. She loved to read, play the piano, and upon the band teacher's request, she played the bassoon in the high school band and orchestra from the time she was in elementary school.

After graduating from Millard High School in 1953, Helen went to BYU where she was a Cougarette and spent three years working at the BYU Motion Picture Studio as a secretary and script girl. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in business education and began teaching typing, shorthand, bookkeeping and business writing at Utah Technical College, which later became Utah Valley University. After several years of teaching, she earned a master's degree from BYU in organizational behavior. She worked at what is now UVU for 38 years, including 17 years as business department chair and several years as an assistant to the academic vice president.

She met Bruce Ashton on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend. They were married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on June 5, 1959. Together they raised six children on five acres in north Orem, where they built their family home. Horses and rodeo competitions became a big part of their family life, along with summertime camping and fishing trips.

Helen survived two serious fights with a rare form of cancer while her children were still living at home, but very few people knew she was ill as she continued to work and carry on with family life. She was adept at balancing her life as a full-time professional and a talented homemaker, making many of her children's clothes and canning vegetables each summer from the large family garden.

She was a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and served as president of both her ward and stake Relief Society, as well as president of her ward Primary and Young Women organizations. She and Bruce served several missions for the Church: in Nauvoo, Illinois, to prepare for the LDS temple dedication; in Martin's Cove, Wyoming, assisting youth groups re-enacting pioneer treks, and in Cove Fort, Utah. They also served for several years as temple workers in the Mount Timpanogos Temple.

Helen loved to travel with her family and enjoyed trips to surrounding states as well as Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Europe and Peru, where she climbed halfway up a steep mountain trail at Machu Picchu in her 70s. She was delighted that men half her age were in awe. In later years, she and Bruce joined the Squaw Peak Good Sam Club and took many trips in their motorhome with fellow campers.

After Bruce's death in 2022, she sold the family home and property and moved to Treeo in Orem, where she lived happily for many months with new friends.

She is survived by five of her six children: Carrie (Brad) Moore; Wendy (Tom) Mason; Quin (Gay) Ashton; Tami (Brent) Ault and Wade (Ann) Ashton, along with 23 grandchildren and 43 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband; their daughter, Traci Ashton; her parents and her brothers, Grant and Robert Wood.

A viewing will be held on Sunday, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, 646 East 800 North in Orem. A funeral service will be held Monday, Nov. 6 at noon, with a viewing preceding the service from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the LDS Church at 800 East 1200 North in Orem. Burial will be in the Orem City Cemetery.

A webcast of services will be available at 12 noon on November 6 at www.walkersanderson.com were condolences and memories may be shared with the family online.