Ashley Clarkson Cudak, 54 of Sevierville, Tennessee, passed away July 3, 2025, exactly one year to the day from her brain cancer surgery, having been in hospice for only one week. In the months prior to hospice, she was lovingly cared for by her family and new friend and CNA, Kateryna. She is preceded in death by her beloved, “Poppy,” Don Rawson—he was her rock.
She leaves husband, Chet Cudak; sister-in-law, Judy Donnelly, brother-in-law, Gary Cudak; mother, Paula Rawson; father, Randy Clarkson (Cheryl); daughter, Chelsea Cudak Horner (Justin) and the love of her life, granddaughter, Elliette Blake Horner. She will forever be remembered as Ellie’s sweet, Lolli, and Ellie will share kind, funny and precious Lolli stories with soon-to-be-brother, Grady. She will be greatly missed by her aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and numerous cousins.
As a child, Ashley was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and lived much of her childhood dealing with seizures, impaired hearing and limited motor skills. She did not, however, let CP define her—actually, she just saw it as a way of life. An unfair hand dealt at such an early age.
She was a graduate of Germantown High School (Germantown, TN) and during her senior year, walked from the school to Germantown United Methodist Church to work in their nursery. She was a natural with children, and her love for them was extraordinary.
As a teenager, Ashley could balance her own checkbook and knew what a budget was. From the time she was given an allowance to spend, it was unselfishly used for family and friends. She plotted and planned all year long to make sure she had the perfect gift(s) for everyone. Remarkably, even in her passing, we discovered envelopes marked insurance, dental, car, medical, gifts, among others—a budgetary tool she was taught early on by Poppy.
Ashley did not let her disabilities deter her from finding a job and working to make her own money. After graduation, she drove to Lambuth College in Jackson, TN every day to learn to type one-handed. CP had left her with limited abilities of her left hand, so she did what she did best—worked around it. Yes, her mom, Paula pushed her hard, but she knew that Ashley would need skills to survive in this sometimes-unkind world, and she was determined to help Ashley put her best foot forward. At all her jobs, she took the time to “know” people, especially the customers at TJ Maxx where she worked for over five years (only stopping due to Covid). She knew her customers, their kids’ name and everything about them. Some might think this forward, but to Ashley that was just being kind. In fact, corporate office sent her a letter saying what a great job she did with all the customers.
Ashley always knew she wanted to have her own children and in 1994, she met Chet Cudak, they married in 1995 and on January 17, 1996, Ashley, despite a difficult pregnancy, gave birth to a gloriously beautiful baby girl, Chelsea Lee Cudak. She was the best mom, devoted, loving and completely competent to care for a child. Nothing could slow Ashley down. She had grit and determination to succeed in life on whatever terms she was given.
When Chelsea was only five the family moved to Sevierville to live in the mountains with grandparents, Paula and Don Rawson. Ashley used to laugh and in her “lovingly loud voice” tell relatives that were coming to visit, “Roll down your window and smell the Pine Sol,” because Paula was always being teased about being a clean freak. The house was definitely off the beaten path so one did need some help in finding it.
Her sense of humor and love of life was only exceeded by her love of Mickey and Minnie Mouse and the world of Disney! She went numerous times and had special memories of all the trips. On the most recent trip, son-in-law, Justin, said it was hilarious—they had three adults on scooters and a toddler in a stroller.
She was the constant in many of our lives, especially her Aunt Barbara’s. She was vigilant in calling her every day and making sure she was okay and had remembered to take her daily meds. In fact, Ashley is probably the only person who shared Aunt Barbara/Grammie’s kind demeanor, sweet disposition and optimistic outlook on life.
Everything in Ashley’s life was a disease-riddled hurdle—Addison’s; Gastroparesis; Gluten Intolerant; Brain Tumor. She took the hurdles in stride—making the most of what God had given her and grateful for the good days she had.
After being diagnosed with brain cancer, Ashley was scared initially but once she settled into the routine, she was a warrior. She braved radiation and chemo and after losing her hair, decided she wanted to become a blonde with long hair—some adjustments had to be made—after all, her mother is a hairdresser.
Ashley’s love of children and Disney made the Make-A-Wish Foundation the natural choice of our family for memorial donations. If you would like to see a smile on the face of a Make-A-Wish child experiencing Disney, please make your donation in Ashley’s memory via this link www.wish.org/midsouth It will certainly make Ashley smile.
Memorials may also be mailed to the following:
Make-A-Wish Mid-South
5100 Poplar Avenue, Ste. 300
Memphis, TN 38137
A Celebration of Ashley’s Life will be held at a later date.