SMITH, Ashley Ann Marie (Craft) 1986-2018

SMITH, CRAFT, STEVEN

Posted By: K.L. Kittleson
Date: 4/29/2018 at 10:34:56

#1:

Services:
Monday, April 30, 2018 at Locke Funeral Home.

Cemetery: (Not given)

Memorials:
Memorials may be donated to Dupaco Aubrianna Smith #20100207.

Biography--

Ashley Ann Marie Smith, 32, of Waterloo, died at home, Sunday, April 22, 2018. She was born, February 2, 1986, in Iowa City, the daughter of Floyd Smith and Sheila (Steven) Craft.

She graduated from Expo High School in 2004. Ashley worked at different fast food restaurants, Ravenwood Nursing Home, and most recently at Tyson Foods.

Ashley loved to be with her friends, driving and listening to music. She was a giving person and would help anyone. Aubrianna and Jaykwon were her first priorities and loves of her life.

She is survived by: a daughter, Aubrianna Smith of Waterloo, her mother and step father, Sheila and Steven Craft; four brothers, Jon (Amanda) Smith of Bristow, Adam (Ashley) Craft, of Waterloo, Alex Craft of Waterloo, Chris Rosol of Dumont; a sister, Lindsay; grandmothers, Marcille Green of Charles City and Doris Craft of Waterloo and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of friends.

Ashley is preceded in death by her son, Jaykwon; her father, Floyd Smith; grandmother Lois Sharp; and other grandparents.

SOURCE: Locke Funeral Home website

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#2: NEWS

WATERLOO — Amid the candles, balloons, stuffed animals and artificial flowers on the concrete stoop of what was left of 536 Dawson St. is a melted trash cart, burned chunks of siding and twisted metal gutter in the lawn.

Perhaps it was a metaphor for a family dealing with its sadness and raw anger at the loss of Ashley Smith, 32, and Jaykwon Sallis, 9. Both perished in a fire Sunday morning, the cause of which is still being investigated.

“Ashley was all about her children,” said Smith’s mother, Sheila Craft. “She had a big heart. Her kids were her No. 1 priority. ... I can’t imagine going on without them.”

“She opened her heart and home to anybody that needed help and gave what she could,” said Steven Craft, Sheila’s husband. “To have this tragedy happen has taken a toll on all our families.”

Troy Perez-Sallis, Jaykwon’s father, said the boy, known as Jake, was an outgoing, bright third-grader who always helped his brothers and sisters. Jake’s birthday was last Saturday, the day before the fire, and the families had two parties for him — one at Chuck E. Cheese and another at the home of his grandmother.

Perez-Sallis said the two other adults in the house at the time — Willie Phillips, 36, and Teryn Netz, 31 — had a problem with another person who Perez-Sallis alleged may have broken windows in the home previously. He said that person may have had something to do with the fire.

Fire officials on Thursday referred questions about the cause of the blaze to Waterloo police. Maj. Joe Liebold with the police department said the cause is still under investigation, and nothing has been ruled out.

Ashley’s daughter, Aubrianna Smith, 12, escaped the fire but tried going back in when she realized her family wasn’t outside, Steven Craft said.

“It’s getting that call in the morning, when your granddaughter calls and says, ‘My house is on fire and I can’t find my mom and my brother,’” he said.

Family members remembered Jake’s love of skateboarding, basketball and riding bikes. The Lincoln Elementary School student was an avid reader who collected basketball cards and knew everything about the NBA.

Shelia Hutchins Wilder, known to Jake as “Granny Shelia,” said her family was friends with another mother and two children who died in a Commercial Street house fire in March.

“The incident that happened a couple weeks ago — they were friends. I cried for them. But now this hits home,” Wilder said. “You just can’t explain it.”

A memorial service will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Locke Funeral Home in Waterloo, and family said it is open to all family and friends. A visitation will begin at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Accounts for funeral expenses and Aubri’s future education have been set up by family. There is an account at Dupaco Credit Union people can donate to under Aubri’s name with the account number of 20100207. There also is a You Caring page under the names of Ashley Smith and Jaykwon Sallis; that link is https://www.youcaring.com/ashleysmithandjaykwonsallis-1175987

Wendell Mallett, Perez-Sallis’s stepfather, became emotional reading a poem he wrote for Ashley and Jake, titled “Missing You Always.”

“It’s just tragic, overwhelming,” he said. “We’re not supposed to lose our kids.”

The fire appears to have started toward the front of the house in the early morning hours of Sunday, gutting the first floor and working its way upstairs.

Firefighters using ladders made their way to the front upstairs bedroom where they found Jake and Ashley.

Firefighters said they found a number of smoke alarms in the home, but it wasn’t clear if they were operational at the time of the fire. Firefighters didn’t report hearing any of the alarms sounding when they arrived.

SOURCE: Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier website