Ashli Anderson Rist

Ashli Anderson Rist, 52, of Siler City, went home to be with the Lord, Monday, January 15th, 2024, at home surrounded by family.

Ashli was born in Minneapolis, MN, to Dr. Jay A. Anderson and Holly Riggs Anderson, on May 2nd, 1971.  She is preceded in death by her father-in-law, John O. Rist.

She is survived by her parents, Dr. Jay and Holly Anderson of Chapel Hill, NC; her husband of 20 years, John Rist of Siler City; two sons, Mitchell Rist of Siler City and Anderson McNaull of Raleigh, NC; one daughter, Dr. Molly McNaull Salzano of Portland, OR; two brothers, Cornell Anderson of Portland, OR and Gabriel Anderson of Basel, Switzerland; and one sister, Elise A. Cash of Chapel Hill, NC.

Ashli received her associate degree in dental assistance from Wake Tech Community College and she worked as an equestrian instructor. She loved working with horses and was even a cub scout leader for a time.

Ashli devoted herself wholly to the people most important to her. She spent much of her time managing her youngest son Mitchell’s type 1 diabetes and creating a stable home for him and her husband John to foster a bright future for them all as she did with her previous children Molly and Anderson. Her personality could be as fiery as her red hair, and she brought that fire to the arena when on horseback. Ashli earned medal upon medal as a young woman, and invigorated her students with her passion so that they would do the same. She devoted herself to the Lord as well, bringing help to those in need during mission trips across the world using the skills she learned as a dental assistant, and a good one at that. She was a phenomenal wife, mother, daughter, sister, teacher, and friend, and her memory will live on in each and every one of the hearts she touched in her life.

Ashli’s Celebration of Life will be held at Chatham Community Church on May 4th, 2024, and the time will be determined at a later date. Service will be officiated by Reverend Alex Kirk.

In lieu of flowers, the family of Ashli Rist have created a GoFundMe to raise funds to offset medical expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/ashli-anderson-rist.

Alternatively, donations can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at https://www.jdrf.org/.

Smith & Buckner funeral home will be assisting the Rist family.

Online condolences can be made at https://www.smithbucknerfh.com/