Mark E. Ashburn

1946 - 2015

Mark Ashburn passed away on June 3, 2015, at his home in Seattle, Wash., from pancreatic cancer, with his family by his side. Although his final decline advanced much more quickly than anticipated, Mark made the most of the time he had, spending it with family and friends. In fact, just a few days before his death, Mark relished hosting a party at his new home for friends from Alaska. Determined to the end, Mark's desire was to die at home, and he accomplished that. Mark was born in 1946, to Harris and Virginia, both professional ballroom dancers. The traditional family name of Aschenbrener was too long for the billboards, prompting his father to change it to Ashburn. Mark was a child actor and appeared in many movies, including the popular Ma and Pa Kettle franchise. After he graduated from UCLA summa cum laude in 1968, the Army sent him to language school and then to Vietnam. He graduated from Harvard Law School after his honorable discharge from the Army. Mark first came to Alaska in 1973, to clerk for Alaska Supreme Court Justice Jay Rabinowitz. That clerkship led to a job with the Fairbanks Public Defender Agency, where he developed a reputation as a skilled trial lawyer. He later became the chief of the Anchorage civil section of the Attorney General's office and served there until 1983. Both as a public defender and as an Assistant AG, Mark was a role model and inspiration to many young attorneys. In 1983, Mark joined the firm of Baily & Mason, later renamed Ashburn & Mason, where he practiced until his retirement in 2014. To the surprise of no one who practiced with him or against him during his career, Mark was awarded the Alaska Bar Association's Professionalism award in 2010. He was a true model of how to blend courtesy and good humor with effective advocacy. He loved to be in the courtroom where his meticulous preparation (briefs always prepared at least a week before they were due) and his natural ability served his clients extremely well. And style? Well, few come near to matching his sense of fashion or his fine taste in Italian suits and Italian footwear which was all a part of his charm. All who knew him know that Mark's first love was family: his wife, Stephanie Cole of Seattle; his son, Christopher Ashburn, also of Seattle; and his sister, Sister JoAnn Ashburn of the Dominican Sisters order, residing in California. He loved them fiercely and they always came first. No matter what his busy work schedule, Mark could always be counted on to drive a carload of boys to each and every soccer game where he was an equal opportunity supporter and fan of all the boys on the team. In addition to his immediate family, Mark's family extends to a network of friends and colleagues with whom he has kept in close contact with over the many years of his life. He will be missed by many, but always remembered. Playing golf was one of Mark's joys and where he spent hours with many of his closest friends. Mark, the consummate golfer, was himself good at golf, but he "suffered patiently" when playing with friends who were not. As one friend reported after playing his first round of golf with Mark, "Mark offered to provide an instructional pointer each time they went out. After about 10 outings, Mark graciously suggested perhaps another sport would work better. But he still invited me out." Throughout his career, Mark provided mentorship, guidance and wisdom to several generations of attorneys. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that anyone wishing to honor Mark make a donation to the Young Lawyers Section of the Anchorage Bar Association, P.O. Box 240362 Anchorage, Alaska 99524, to further his tradition of mentoring young attorneys.