Ashley Arden Barkas

December 4, 1993 – September 15, 2026

It is with remorse and a heavy heart to announce that my loving daughter, Ashley Arden Barkas, passed away Tuesday morning, September 15th, 2026.

Ashley was a beautiful, loving and caring woman who always knew how to make you laugh. All who knew her could clearly see the light radiating from her. Closest to her heart was her son, Joseph. She loved him with all her being. He was the light in her life. She loved being in nature without boundaries and reveled in the natural beauty this world has to offer. She would often point them out along with profound epiphanies of the universe. Ashley had a beautifully curious mind. She loved animals and you would often find her loving on them any chance she had. She had many pets throughout her life that she loved so dearly.

In high school, Ashley played softball, volleyball and basketball. She was musically inclined, played the trumpet, taught herself keyboard and was First Chair in her high school band for trumpet. She also had a natural gift for doing hair and makeup. Ashley really enjoyed reading. It was one of her favorite pastimes – to escape into a good book. When she wasn’t reading, she loved crocheting. She even crocheted bookmarks to share her love of both with others. Ashley had a heart of gold and she accepted Jesus into her heart in adolescence and was baptized at Bethany United Methodist Church in Rochester, New Hampshire. During that time, she sang in the choir and played trumpet on special occasions. A lot of her reading time throughout her life was spent with her bible. She would say to me, “Mom, I need some time in my bible.” I marveled at her dedication. She taught me so much about devotion and faith. She deeply grasped life’s most profound truth that God’s forgiveness was dependent on faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and not on good works. Despite life’s ups and downs, she truly understood that no one can earn salvation but that it was a love gift obtained by faith in the precious blood of Jesus.

She was so full of life and had so many aspirations, but at the end of the day, all she cared about was helping others in need and making someone else’s day better no matter the personal sacrifice. Ashley loved her family with all her heart and tried so hard to be the best version of herself every day. It’s hard to sum up my beloved daughter’s life, but I know in my heart that my beautiful girl was a good, kind and deeply sensitive person who loved our Lord, Jesus Christ. I will always be so proud of her for that.

I love you, my sweet girl. I am going to deeply miss you, though I find comfort knowing you are resting in heaven surrounded by the perfect peace and beauty that God, our Father, has promised us.

Ashley is survived by her son, Joseph Emmanuel Corain, and her mom, Amy Arden Dixon Dufresne and her husband, Jack Dufresne, and her stepbrothers, Jackson and Brayden Dufresne and her fraternal grandmothers, Sharron Patton and Diana Barkas. She is predeceased by her father, Thomas Emmanuel Barkas, and her fraternal grandfather, Nicholas Barkas, and her maternal grandparents, Sandra Gayle McKnight and Richard Allen Dixon. She is also survived by many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Family and friends are invited to attend Ashley’s Celebration of Life service to be held on Saturday, November 14, 2026 at 10:00 am at New Life Church, 84 Nottingham Road, Raymond, New Hampshire. In lieu of flowers, her family requests that memorial donations be made in her memory to American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, https://secure.aspca.org/donate/memorial. For more details and to leave her family condolences, please visit www.obits.csnh.com/ashley-barkas.