Asha P. Gregory

Asha Paige Gregory, 34, of Greenwald, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family April 10, 2023, at the St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 22, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose with the Rev. Marvin Enneking officiating. Inurnment will be at a later date at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in Greenwald. The Mass will be livestreamed and can be viewed on YouTube channel: Church of St. Mary Melrose. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Friday, April 21, and  9-10 a.m. April 22 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Asha Paige Poepping was born Sept. 7, 1988, to Steve and Michele Poepping. She was their only daughter and the light of their life (right, Mom and Dad). She graduated from Albany High School in 2007. Many of her high school classmates remained her greatest friends throughout her life. She attended multiple colleges (St. Ben’s, SCTCC, CLC, St. Scholastica and SMSU) to climb the nursing ladder. She finished with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in teaching, learning and leadership and gained many other wonderful friends along the way. Asha was the district nurse for Sartell-St. Stephen Schools for two years and then the district nurse for Albany Area Schools for the past nine years. School nursing was her passion. She loved to help and care for the students and watch them grow. She also worked as a home healthcare nurse for one treasured client “Mr. B” for more than13 years.

On June 28, 2014, Asha married her version of Prince Charming, Dustin Gregory, and they began their “happy ever after” in Greenwald. Daughter Willow was born in 2015, and son Nash completed the family in 2018. Asha loved her family more than anything. She is so proud of Willow and Nash and can’t wait to watch from above to see what their future will hold.

Asha will be remembered for her intense volleyball serve, hitting the heck out of the ball playing co-rec softball, sharing her bountiful garden harvest each year and making the “world’s best” monster cookies. Asha also enjoyed fishing, hunting, scrapbooking and photography. If you ever had your photo taken by Asha, she hopes it is something you will always treasure. Throughout the years, Asha enjoyed volunteering at many places, including hundreds of hours at the St. Cloud Hospital. She was a member of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Greenwald.

Asha was especially excited to be greeted in heaven by her grandmother, Jeanette Maciejewski, and her friend, Leo Kohorst.

She always had a positive attitude and always found the good things even on the hard days in her cancer battle. She was a planner, and she even wrote this obituary. Now that you know I wrote this, I can speak in the first person. I want you to find the “good things,” go on vacation, eat the cake, and know you can never have too many photos. Remember, nobody gets out of here alive, so live like you are dying (because you are).

Thank you to those who helped me along my cancer journey. The outpouring of prayers and support from coworkers, friends, family and those I didn’t know was unbelievable. A special thank you to the staff at Coborn Cancer Center, ICU and oncology for all of their care, the Poor Clares for their prayers and Father Mark for the spiritual care at the St. Cloud Hospital.

If you could do one thing for me, I ask that you help make sure my mom and dad are taken care of, as well as Dustin and the kids. It’s going to be difficult for them without me physically with them. Being an only child and not being there to take care of my parents as they age, and not being there for my children as they grow up are the two things that I had the hardest time with.

Please celebrate my life. Don’t be too sad because I’m gone sooner than we’d hoped. Remember the good times and smile. I promise to send some butterflies your way to help you know I am with you. When you see the butterflies, think of me and smile. Until we meet again, I love you.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred. Per Asha’s request, “nothing fancy, dress casual.”

Arrangements were made with Patton-Schad Funeral & Cremation Services of Melrose.

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