Virginia “Ginny” Ashenfelter died on April 22 at age 94 in the Complete Care at Harston Hall Nursing Home in Flourtown of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Along with Lew, her husband of 72 years, she ran The Happy Butterfly, a popular children's clothing store in the Community Center Building at 8419 Germantown Ave. from 1983 to 2015. For many years she and Lew lived on Rose Lane in Flourtown.
Ginny served as president of the Chestnut Hill Business Association in 1994 and 1995. She told the Local in 2015 that she named the store The Happy Butterfly because, “32 years of selling handcrafted gifts for children made me as happy as a butterfly.”
The business took off right away. People asked for handmade baby clothes, and Ginny somehow found crafters to produce them. She worked with many of those early artisans for decades, knowing their life stories and loving them like family. In the early years, Lew worked for a lumber brokerage firm, but he found time to help organize The Happy Butterfly and continued to play a major role in its operation, putting in time behind the counter several days a week.
“Huge heart of gold”
The Happy Butterfly was known for its huge, varied selection of gifts for infants, toddlers, and young children, plus a few goodies for grownups. The leading lights in this collection were the hard-to-find hand-smocked dresses for little girls. The late Local new business columnist Pat Stokes once wrote, “Sweet and adorable are the only suitable adjectives for those. Next, handmade little sweaters that make grandmas positively drool; they're so cute, just right to tuck into a suitcase when visiting a young family in Florida or California.
“Then to the Raggedys: Ann, Andy, and gray-haired Raggedy Aunt Elsie (lovable-huggable). Aunt Elsie is based on a real Aunt Elsie who had three husbands, now all deceased. There is a similar story behind almost every lovingly made article in the shop like the handmade crib quilts in pretty pastel block designs ... Mustn't forget the outstanding wooden dollhouses, doll beds, alphabet blocks and other wooden toys everyone searches for.”
Pat Stokes, who also owned a vitamin store on the Hill for many years, referred to Ginny as “a lady with a huge heart of gold.”
Ginny, who grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, met Lew, now 93, a native of Lower Gwynedd and graduate of Penn Charter, on a blind date while he was attending business school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. “When I grew up in Gwynedd Valley,” Lew once told the Local, “it was mostly farmlands and woods.” Ginny graduated from the Richmond Professional Institute of William and Mary, where she majored in clothing design and millinery. Lew proposed on their second date.
A good run
“I've always loved crafts and millinery.” Ginny told us when they were closing “Butterfly” in 2015, “but we’re not 21 anymore. Nothing lasts forever, but still it’s difficult. I tell Lew every day that he’s still the man of my dreams. Lew and I will get through this together. We want to thank the community for their support over all of these years. It’s been a good run.”
When you talk to people who knew Ginny, they invariably mention how beloved she was. Chris and Kristen Marsceill, who narrowly escaped death during Hurricane Katrina, and who now live in Chestnut Hill, told us in a previous interview, "We would like to thank Ginny and Lew. They have been so good to us. They are two of the nicest people we've ever met."
Sean Buckley, a good friend and neighbor for many years, told us last week, “Lew and Ginny loved each other deeply. They were very, very good people, and Ginny was great right to the end.”
Ginny is survived by her two children, one grandson, Michael Killion Jr., and a niece, Linda M.Carduner. Ashenfelter’s son, Winfield, attended Springfield High School, Penn Charter and the University of Alabama. He lives in Los Angeles. Her daughter, Sharon Killion (Michael), attended Springside as well as Springfield High School and the University of Virginia. She now lives in eastern Virginia.
Funeral services were held at the Church of the Messiah in Lower Gwynedd on May 1. Interment was at Rose Hall Cemetery in Ambler. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association.
Barbara Sherf contributed to this article. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com
