To know Ashley Rae Hiatt was to love her, and to know that you were loved! The most beautiful thing about “Ashley Boo” was that everything mattered to her, everything had value. Ashley was sensitive to even the smallest things in the world around her…things that to most of us would be insignificant and overlooked. Hand in hand with this connection to her surroundings was her enormous heart. She was drawn to helping the downtrodden and had an uncanny ability to see what others needed—and never passed up an opportunity to provide it. Ashley had a gift of finding those in need of lifting and would do anything to brighten their day—pictures she had drawn or painted, a smile for everyone, notes of love and friendship. Over the past week, her family has been finding tiny animal drawings she hid around the house—put there just because she knew it would make them smile. Ashley even started to learn sign language…because it wasn’t enough for her to lift only those who could hear her sweet voice, she wanted to lift even those who couldn’t. Her love for others stemmed from her love of the Savior—Ashley could see people as the Lord saw them. She loved going to church each week and being with the Young Women leaders whom she loved so much. She was one of Heavenly Father’s angels on earth, quietly living every day as an example of His service.

Ashley’s love didn’t stop there; she had a love for life! She was willing to try her hand at anything and everything from sewing, to cooking, to flower arranging, to skim boarding and more! She loved the water and must have been born part fish. All summer long you could find her in the pool, in one of her 20+ swimsuits. She loved Lake Powell, and every night got her fill of water with a 2 hour bath. Ashley loved playing tennis, gave the best pedicures and loved to travel—even at her young age she had been to Paris, Amsterdam, Hawaii, New York City, Alaska, Germany and New Orleans. For food, all she needed to be happy was Stokes mac n’ cheese or Top Ramen, but started every morning with a cup of hot chocolate on her way to the bus stop. She loved school, loved learning about everything. She loved all types of music and always wore an earbud—every once in a while, if she thought she was alone, you would hear her singing her heart out in her endearing tone deaf voice. Ashley loved having her nails done, even though it never lasted. She loved a good sweatshirt but hated shopping. Ashley knew what she liked…and what she didn’t (like having her hair played with). She was filled with spunk and sass, with a stubborn, matter of fact way about her and a dry wit that could make anyone smile. Ashley had an amazing group of friends, and was especially close to her best friend, Emery. The two of them were inseparable—even FaceTiming together without saying a word, just going about their business, just to be connected to each other. Ashley’s family will be forever grateful to Emery for the love and friendship she gave to Ashley.

With all her different interests, one of the things Ashley excelled at was art. She was amazing at sketching, drawing and painting. In her room you would always find sketchbooks filled with the most amazing artwork. The best part was she never kept these things to herself—her family and friends were always the lucky recipients of her painted rocks, sketches, and even flower arrangements. Ashley had to share beauty with everyone around her!

Although her interests varied, there was one thing that would never change, Ashley’s love for animals. Referred to as the “animal whisperer,” her room was full of her collections of rock animals and figurines. Most often if you went searching for her, you’d find her with an animal of some kind—out in the field with a sick horse (where she made sure to bring a pillow and blanket…for the horse), playing with her dogs, petting Crazy Alice (Ashley was the only one who could get close to that horse), but most likely you’d find her with her cats, particularly her favorite cat, Smokey. Her dream job was to own a grooming and boarding shop—nothing could have suited her better!

Ashley loved spending time with her family, especially working with her dad—she was up for anything! She could run a skid steer and an excavator and wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty! Her dad loved every minute he got to spend working with her. He will treasure the recent memory of her, driving with him in his new trans am in Moab with the top off, the music thumping and Ashley smiling from ear to ear. And on those nights when Cory was working late, Ashley and her mom would have a living room picnic and watch “Worst Cooks in America” together—they knew they couldn’t watch it unless they were together! Jessica will cherish those evenings of food and laughter with her daughter.

We are forever indebted to the people who made a valiant attempt to save Ashley’s life—the Salem EMTs, Salem Police, the Utah County Sheriff, and the ICU nurses at Mountain View Hospital—Jessie, Amanda and Alexis. We can never express to you what your efforts and show of love and support has meant to us.

Ashley is survived by her loving parents, Cory and Jessica, her most beloved sister, Kaylee, her grandparents Noel and Sandy Hiatt and Craig and Sharee Swenson, along with countless family members who will all miss her dearly. Ashley has left us with beautiful memories, and although she no longer walks physically next to us, we have felt her spirit with us and know that she will be sending down her bits of joy to brighten our days just as she did in life. Ashley’s love has touched and changed countless lives. We feel lucky to have been able to love her and be loved by her. And we have been forever blessed by being able to know her.

We will celebrate Ashley’s life by continuing on doing what she would do—smile at everyone, seek out those who are lonely, share your love to anyone and everyone, find ways to spread light, notice the little things. In that spirit, we would like to commemorate Ashley the way she would have wanted us to—in lieu of flowers, we ask that you donate to the “Ashley’s Rae of Light” fund via Venmo at Jessica-Hiatt-3. 100% of the donations will be used to help families in need this holiday season, in Ashley’s honor. We love you Ashley, and will miss you every day until we meet again.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, December 19, 2020 at 11 a.m. at the Loafer Canyon Ward Building, 555 West 11200 South, Woodland Hills, Utah.  A visitation will be held on Friday, December 18, 2020 from 6 til 8 p.m. at the same location and on Saturday, December 19, 2020 from 9:45 til 10:45 a.m. prior to the funeral service.