St. Charles graduate dedicated to marine life dies in Australia

ST. CHARLES – A St. Charles High School graduate working to find a solution to a coral-killing bacteria in Hawaii died unexpectedly last month during a research trip in Australia.

Ashley Smith was 26. Family members said she felt ill before her death, but they do not yet know the official cause.

Her relatives said marine life, volleyball (she was part of St. Charles High's state championship team), her friends and being a good older sister were important to her. They also described her as happy, generous and compassionate but said no words can quite summarize what she was like.

"She was destined for big things," said her aunt Beverly Obrecht. "We knew what she did, and truthfully I'm not sure we knew the magnitude of what she was doing."

Obrecht was referring to her niece's work with the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. In February, Kane'ohe Bay suffered an outbreak of a disease called Montipora White Syndrome that can kill colonies of coral within weeks. Her research identified the bacteria, her family said.

Ashley Smith received an invitation to do similar work in Australia while working in Hawaii with a visiting researcher from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. She talked with her parents about how to make that happen, said her mother, Barb Smith.

"We did everything in our power to help her," she said.

And so Ashley Smith planned a two-and-a-half-month trip to Australia. Barb Smith said her daughter died before she got to conduct the research she had planned.

"I was very proud of her," Barb Smith said. "She followed her passion. … She wanted to make a difference in the sea life."

Ashley Smith's infatuation with marine life began at age 2 when, during a trip to Seattle, she reached through a touch tank containing crabs and stingrays, pulled out a starfish and plopped it on her forehead.

"She had no fear, just wonder," Barb Smith said.

Ashley Smith earned an undergraduate degree in marine biology, a master's degree in microbiology and was working toward a doctorate degree in marine microbiology.

Additionally, her mother said, Ashley Smith was proud of her scuba diving accomplishments. She was a certified master diver and a research diver, she said.

Ashley Smith planned to return to Hawaii to research the cause of the bacteria outbreak and, if possible, to develop a plan to reverse it, her mother said.

Her family is asking that in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Ashley Marie Smith Memorial Fund, c/o Harris Bank, 3890 E. Main St., St. Charles, IL 60174. The proceeds will benefit her research in Hawaii.

"She got frustrated with trying to find funds to complete something she needed to do," Barb Smith said. "The money impeded sometimes what she needed to do."