The Wellsville community gathered to celebrate and say goodbye on August 13 at Wellsville Secondary School
A column by JOHN ANDERSON
There’s a saying about small towns: If you move to one and live 80 years, unless you were born there, you will never be considered a local.
On Thursday night, the incredible small towns and villages that make up Allegany County filled the Wellsville High School gymnasium to pay respects and honor the Robichaud family. A family that has spent 10 years in Wellsville, but has impacted a lifetime of students.
For three hours, there was a mix of talking and laughter, but those moments were overshadowed by hugs and tears.
The gym served as a visitation space for Ashley R. Robichaud, 38, and her daughter, Emersyn E. Robichaud, 6, who passed away at home after an ATV accident on August 6. Read their full obituary below:
Ashley and her husband, Jason Robichaud, are both teachers in the district. They came to the area from Lockport, and in 10 short years, became “locals.”
To know them is to love them. It’s hard to explain, but each interaction with them was always positive and always welcoming. Ashley was so nice when she asked for help, you wound up thanking her for asking. She just made you a better person each day you knew her or worked with her.
Emersyn was beloved by her classmates, but also the staff and friends of the family. When you entered the Robichaud’s circle of trust, you were now trusted with Emersyn and she filled your soul with love each interaction.
Together, they were a welcoming team each day at the elementary school. Not only did Ashley spend the day teaching First Grade Inclusion, she helped students in grades kindergarten to fifth find their parents at the end of the day for pick up.
During one of the many moving statements and speeches on Thursday night at the visitation, Monica Finn mentioned during the hiring process for Ashley. During the interview, they learned more about her than any other candidate. In fact, they learned more about her than all interviews for all positions combined!
This is what you got when you were a parent or a student in her class, it’s why she developed relationships with so many parents just during pick-up time. Ashley got to know the parents and got to know the kids.
And her influence grew. This summer, Ashley and Jason were teachers for 120 kids in grades 6 to 12. Several were in attendance Thursday night. All of them cried.
Those attending were asked to wear Buffalo Bills attire. A sea of jersey’s, t-shirts, polo shirts and hoodies never felt so appropriate at a viewing. It is all part of Ashley and Jason making you feel comfortable.
Jason held their youngest son, Parker. He’s had support this week, and there is no question, he’s going to be a rock for the family. The beautiful, private words from everyone to Jason kept the gym an emotional place. The emotions will continue Saturday during a memorial service in Grand Island.
The usual excitement of starting a new school year has been a somber process. The buses will bring kids to school and classes will begin. That is the easy part.
At the end of the day, we won’t have Ashley and Emersyn to safely hand off our children to their parents. We won’t see Ashley’s smile and “hello,” followed by a brief, but great conversation.
It will be a long time before you see the genuine smiles and a hello when school starts.
It’s going to be hard to say hello when we are not ready to say goodbye.
(John Anderson is a contributing editor and writer to the Sun. He can be reached at john@johnandersonmedia.com)
