Martha Ann "Marty" Ashenfelter, a beloved longtime resident of Salina, Kansas, passed away on January 23, 2025, at the age of 99. Born on April 23, 1925, in Salina, she was the daughter of Ferdinand and Victoria (Gehr) Kubitschek and the youngest of three children.
Martha graduated from Washington High School in 1943 and married Russel L. Ashenfelter on October 27, 1949, at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Salina. Russel, originally from Linville, Virginia, was stationed at Schilling Air Force Base in Salina. Martha dedicated 12 years to working in the Stiefel’s Department Store office. When the Stiefel family sold the business to Klines Department Store in 1974, she continued her service for another 20 years until Kline’s closure in 1994. She also worked part-time at Warden’s Ready to Wear office until April 1994.
Martha was a devoted member of Sacred Heart Cathedral of Salina and, previously, the Kansas Native Daughters. She enjoyed cooking, sewing, crocheting, crafts, gardening, solving word find puzzles, TV game shows and news, reading newspapers and magazines, and writing letters to family and friends. She had a lifelong passion for watching baseball, rooting for her favorite teams, the Royals and Cubs, and enjoyed K-State basketball and football. Above all, she cherished spending time with her two grandsons and watching them grow.
Martha was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Russel Ashenfelter, who died November 22, 1969, her brother and sister-in-law, Raphael and Leilla Kubitschek, her sister and brother-in-law, Helen and Delmar Samsel, and her brother-in-law, Bob Branner.
She is survived by her loving daughter, Becky, and husband, Melvin Augustine, of Salina; two grandsons, Andrew Augustine and wife, Jackie, of Topeka, KS, Adam Augustine and wife, Lisa, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and two great grandchildren, Logan and Aubree Augustine, both of Bartlesville; sisters-in-law, Joan “Kay” Coffman and husband, John, and Jean “Fay” Branner, both of Timberville,Virginia; nieces, Vicki LaHay and husband, David, of Springfield, Missouri; Kay Williams and husband, Ron, of Bluffton, South Carolina; Kathy Fitzpatrick and husband, Bob, of Overland Park, Kansas, Michele Minnick and husband, Richard, of Harrisonburg, Virginia; Joni Biller and husband, Tony, of Timberville, Virginia; and Beth Branner-Gore and husband, Will, of Charlottesville, Virginia; nephews, Tom Samsel and wife, Joyce, of Springfield, Missouri; Dr. Kenneth Kubitschek and wife, Janice, of Asheville, North Carolina; as well as great-nieces and nephews and friends.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 10:30 AM at Salina Presbyterian Manor, 2601 E. Crawford, with Chaplain Dave Parker officiating. A luncheon will follow at Presbyterian Manor, with burial at Mount Calvary Cemetery, Salina.
Memorials in memory of Marty can be made to the Salina Presbyterian Manor Employee Christmas Fund, the SPM Good Samaritan Fund, or the Audubon of Kansas (Dr. Jackie Augustine, Executive Director).