With a loving and service-oriented heart, Ashley Peterson was the embodiment of a veterinarian.
Suzanne Peterson, Ashley Peterson’s mother, said her daughter decided to become a veterinarian during her time as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology from USC in 2004, Ashley Peterson went to veterinary school at Kansas State University where she earned her doctorate in veterinary medicine in 2007. She came to Texas A&M to complete her residency.
Suzanne Peterson said her daughter owned two pets, a dog named Clam Bait — “Clam” for short — and a cat named Shilo. Suzanne Peterson said one of her favorite memories was traveling across the country from their hometown of Washington D.C. to California with Ashley Peterson and her two pets. Suzanne Peterson said they saw the Grand Canyon and the pets kept the two laughing the whole way there.
Ashley Peterson wanted to make a difference, Suzanne Peterson said, which is why she decided to go into veterinary lab research after veterinary school. She worked at Texas A&M as a third-year resident in the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, where she was trained on advanced techniques and on all the laboratory animal species.
Ashley Peterson’s mentor and colleague, Vincent Gresham, said she was kind, compassionate, outgoing and had a truly caring heart. She loved to bake and was a very good cook, often bringing in cakes, cookies and muffins to share with her co-workers.
During a trip to the Houston livestock show, a fellow resident she was traveling with had to have her gallbladder removed. Gresham said Ashley Peterson stayed at the hospital with the other resident until they could go home.
Devon Klipsic, Ashley Peterson’s close friend and Texas A&M veterinary resident, said she was a very kind and compassionate person who made the lives of the people and animals she worked with better.
Klipsic said Ashley Peterson was very down to earth and humble and her transition into residency would have been rocky without their friendship.
Klipsic said her favorite memory with her friend was when they attended a conference together in Boston and had some leisure time.
“The last day we had some time to burn and we went into the city and we just walked around and talked and went to some historical sites and just sat by the ocean for a little while,” Klipsic said.
Ashley Peterson had a great sense of humor, Klipsic said, and she loved to laugh.
Klipsic described Ashley Peterson as a free thinker who had a passion for life. Ashley’s interests did not stop with animals, as she also loved classical ballroom dancing.
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