Deirdre Asch Obituary

Asch, Deirdre "Di" R. passed peacefully at her home in Austin, Texas on August 6, 2003. She leaves behind her son Ric Asch and his wife Jane; daughters, Robin Ashley and her husband Jerry Wunsch, Michael Anne Johnson and her husband Bill, Lisa Asch and her partner Peter Blackwell; grandchildren, Bill Chasteen, Joshua Asch and his wife Alissa and Katie Rose Ryan and great grandchildren Bill Jr., Bobby and Becky Chasteen, and Payton Asch who also has a sister due in November. She also leaves behind her sister Linda Berolzheimer. Di was a mother, a daughter, a sister, a grandmother and a great grandmother. She was a friend extraordinaire and her friends and family loved her tremendously. She loved classical music, cooking and was an avid reader. Her life was filled with adventures, laughter and some tears. Di was also a teacher. She taught many people about love and compassion. She taught by example. While volunteering her time organizing and providing transportation for the senior citizens group in her parish, she also volunteered her time teaching mothers-to-be in natural childbirth and breast feeding. Realizing her great love of all babies, it was only natural to raise and nurture the baby animals in the nursery at Lincoln Park Zoo from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. In 1967 she traveled with other zoo members to East Africa, a trip that would forever change her life. Between 1967 and 1992 she returned to Africa on 18 photographic safaris, sharing with her friends her knowledge of the animals and her love of the peoples and the lands of Africa. It was during these years she became known as "Mama Safari". Later on she worked at Brookfield Zoo, sharing her knowledge by narrating and driving the train in the zoo. She also followed up on her love of children by becoming a professional nanny. You will be missed by your family and all your friends Di, but we shall all remember one of your favorite passages by Angelo Patri; "In one sense there is no death. The life of a soul on earth lasts beyond its departure. You will always feel that life touching yours, that voice speaking to you, that spirit looking out of other eyes, talking to you in the familiar things she touched, worked with, and loved as familiar friends. She lives on in your lives and in the lives of all others who knew her". NAKUPENDA DI Arrangements by Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas, 78705, 512-452-8811. You may view memorials online at www.wcfish.com