With an uncle who invented the ice cream cone, a father who ran a successful haberdashery business, a loving husband, four children, seven grandchildren and twelve lovely great grandchildren, Lorrice Asher had plenty of reasons to sing praises. To top it all off, she, like her sisters, had the voice to do so with exceptional ability.

Born to a traditional family, Lorrice had a typical childhood in her hometown of Norfolk, Virginia.  Her father owned an upscale haberdashery and her mother stayed home to raise Lorrice and her siblings: Matilda, Edna, Caroline and Edmond. While the family was still young, the parents, Gabriel and Julia Absi, often gathered the children for outings to Ocean View Park, where Uncle Abe, the ice-cream-cone inventor, ran his ice cream shop.  Each time the family visited Ocean View Park, Uncle Abe always made sure to give Lorrice the ice cream cone of her choice. To this day, she has always had a weakness and a love for ice cream.  Thanks, Uncle Abe!

Lorrice enjoyed fifteen idyllic and active years of childhood, filled with family outings and lots of family singalongs.  While in school, she always had a love for learning.  Despite being an honor student, she chose to leave school in the 10th grade to help support her family through the Great Depression.  She enrolled quickly into secretarial school for six months, applied for a job and was immediately accepted as a secretary in a shipping firm in Manhattan.  Her salary rose quickly to $45 per week, which was higher than what most men were achieving during the Great Depression.  All of this began at the young age of 16 and it became clear at this age that family came first for Lorrice.  In addition to pursuing her career from the age of 17 to 22, Lorrice continued to pursue her singing passion and enjoyed a weekly singing engagement over the radio in the evening in Manhattan. 

As much as she enjoyed her business career, her family loyalties always came first. While in New York, her family members introduced her to Joseph Asher.  The two were immediately attracted to each other and before long were married on July 17, 1940.  They honeymooned in Cuba during the romantic pre-Castro period and celebrated in grand style.  After the honeymoon, the young couple moved to an upscale apartment in Detroit only blocks from Asher’s Supermarket, a store owned by Joseph’s father and the Asher family.  While Joseph became deeply involved in managing and growing his father’s store, Lorrice became a ‘stay at home’ mom for the next 12 years.  When Joseph and Lorrice weren’t working and keeping up with all the other routine events of a typical American household, they enjoyed the company of their four children: Lanette, Joseph, Catherine and Frederick.  As the children got older, Lorrice went back to pursuing her career.  She once again showed her passion for learning and went back to school to successfully obtain her license to become a professional real estate agent.  Her shrewdness and, more importantly, her high-level of integrity as a real estate agent made her one of the best in the business.  After further hard work and study, she eventually became a professional real estate broker owning her own business.

With an exceptional ability to manage both career and family, Lorrice and Joseph successfully honed the character and morals of their children, who have in turn passed those characteristics along to their children: Lorrice (Lissie), Salim Jr., Christopher, Taryn, Amber, Monique, and Trevor. They in turn have done the same for her twelve great grandchildren: Asher, Hazel, Gia, Bryce, Dylan, Andrew, Brady, Riley, Aiden, Tyler, Peter, and Clare.

That legacy of family, more than anything else, gave Lorrice V. Asher reason to be truly proud and content.  

Lorrice and Joseph’s loving bond would last until Joseph’s death, sixty-four years after their wedding.

Lorrice's visitation will be held on Friday, August 18th, from 6-8pm at McCabe Funeral Home, 31950 W. 12 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills. She will lie in state Saturday, August 19th, at 9:30am until time of Funeral Mass at 10am at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, 4300 Walnut Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township. Lorrice will be laid to rest at All Saints Cemetery in Waterford, Michigan.