By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mrs. Asher

HAMILTON - Mary Kay Asher, 48, director of imaging services for Mercy Hospital Fairfield, died of cancer at her home here Wednesday.

Mrs. Asher "exemplified our mission at work and in her approach to life," said Thomas Urban, president and CEO of Mercy Health Partners.

She was also a "loving, caring, wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend," her family said. "She touched the lives of everyone who knew her with her courage, her strength, and that beautiful smile."

During her 30-year career with Mercy, Mrs. Asher oversaw radiology at the former Mercy Hospital Hamilton and the expansion of services at Mercy Health Center Wetherington.

Her family said she was proud of her accomplishments at the Women's Center at the Mercy Center for Health and Wellness in Fairfield, which provides a private environment for mammography services.

A Hamilton native, Mrs. Asher was born in 1954 to Robert Harold and Patricia Ryan Collopy. She was a member of the Taft High School class of 1973 and a graduate of the Mercy Hospital School of Radiology Technology in Hamilton.

She started out as an X-ray technician at Mercy and was promoted to senior ultrasound technologist, then team leader of diagnostic services and division manager. Mercy Fairfield recently presented her a 30-year pin.

Mrs. Asher was a member of American Healthcare Radiology Administrators.

Survivors include her husband of 27 years, Ben; two sons, Bryan Douglas and Travis Benjamin Asher and a daughter, Paige Colleen Asher, all of Hamilton; her mother, Patricia Collopy of Hamilton; six sisters, Pam Smith of Middletown, Linda Shockey, Lorri Harris, Amy Witt, Ginger Harris and Tina Collopy; and three brothers, Rob and John Collopy, both of Hamilton; and Steve Collopy of Manchester, Ky.

Services have been held. Burial was at St. Stephen Cemetery.

Memorials: Paige C. Asher Education Trust, RFKND-9034-1, c/o Paul J. Kellogg; Rendigs, Fry, Kieley and Dennis LLP, 1 W. Fourth St., Suite 900, Cincinnati 45202.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com