Hazel (Cooper) Ashton Howard, 96, died at Frederick Memorial Hospital after a short ill-ness on August 16,, 2013. Born to Richard L. and Amy Thomas Cooper, in Chicopee, Massachusetts, on May 9, 1917, she lived in Southbridge, Massachusetts, where she graduated from Mary E. Wells High School in 1935. She also lived in Frederick, Maryland, and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, spending winters in Florida where she moved permanently in 2003, until returning to Sunrise of Frederick in 2012. She had worked at the American Optical Company in both Southbridge and Frederick, as well as at Service Glass Industries in Frederick. Survivors include two sons, Richard J. Ashton and his wife, Patricia, of Charles Town, West Virginia, and F. William Ashton, of Frederick, Maryland; a stepdaughter, Patricia A. Johnson and her husband, Alden, of Sturbridge, Massachusetts; a granddaughter, Jennifer S. Motz and her husband, Joseph; three great grandchildren, Sydney E. Ashton, Nicholas A. Motz, and Allison E. Motz; and a special nephew, John T. Cooper, Jr., and wife, Sonja, and their son John T. Cooper, III, and their grandchildren, Jennifer and John. Mrs. Howard was preceded in death by her first husband, Francis W. Ashton, in 1978; her second husband, Walter W. Howard, in 2004; and her brother, John T. Cooper, in 1993, and his wife, Marion O. Cooper, in 1996 . Arrangements are by Keeney & Basford Funeral Home, 106 East Church Street, Frederick, Maryland. Inurnment will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Frederick, Maryland, at the family's convenience. In lieu of Flowers memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association Memorials & Tributes, P. O. Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058. Online condolences may be shared with her family at keeneybasford.com.
