Jessica Ashley Hites

Jessica Ashley Hites, 36, of Dayton, Ohio, passed away on Sunday, August 27th, 2023 at her home. She was born on March 22nd, 1987 at St. Elizabeth Hospital.

Jess, as she was affectionately called by family and friends, graduated from Beavercreek High School in 2006. Later, she married Jordan Hites of Belle Center, Ohio. From 2010 to 2022 they shared a marriage full of traveling both the country and world as well as checking out every brewery and pub they could find. While living in Alpharetta, Georgia, between March 2010 and May 2011, Jess met lifelong friends Eileen and David McKinley. After moving back to Ohio, she used anytime she could to go visit them in the south and spend time with their family.

Jess was most well-known for her amazing skills in photography. She was an entirely self-taught artist who took pictures of many weddings and families over the years. In 2015, she began working for Blush Boudoir. It was there that she found a renewed love of photography because she was able to make people, especially women, feel empowered, beautiful, and valuable through her art.

On top of working as a photographer, Jess was a beloved Bartender at Branch & Bone Brewery. Good beer and talking to people were some of her favorite things which made working at Branch & Bone the perfect job for her. Through her work bartending, Jess made incredible friendships with both her coworkers and many of the patrons there.

Like her grandmother, Jess was also a phenomenal chef and baker. She loved to make various cuisines and dishes. Whether it was ramen for dinner or homemade cookies for dessert, the person she was serving knew that the meal was an act of love for Jess and felt every bit of that love. If you were at the same potluck that she was, you knew your dish would certainly be outdone by her. Not only that, but she loved to seek out the best new restaurants wherever she was to see what new and interesting dishes they brought to the table.

Alongside the love for other people, Jess was passionate about her love for dogs. Her "fur-babies" Kuro and Sesame were like children to her, and she treated/spoiled them as such. She also lit up any time she was able to spend time with the dogs of people she loved. Her sister Harmony's dogs, Gordon and Cobalt, made the drive to Cincinnati worth it!

Jess is preceded in death by her mama, Judith Denlinger and her papa, Larry Denlinger.

She is survived by her mother, Nicholle Peace; her father, David Denlinger; sisters, Harmony (Abbie) Maine, Savannah Denlinger, and Stevie (Daniel) Roddy; nieces and nephews, Madi Roddy, Elias Roddy, Maisie Roddy, and the newest addition to the family: Cedar Maine; and other beloved family members Mandi and Jonas Helbert, Betty Robinett, Steve Robinett, Julie Thompson, and Maddie Ross.

Although she is no longer in this world, her memory will live on through the beautiful pictures she took so much time to take and edit of great friends and family over the years. She was so loved by everyone she knew.

Jess always said everyone looks great in black, so in honor of her the family requests that everyone in attendance wear black.

Visitation will be Saturday, September 2, 2023 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm with a service to follow at 3:00 pm at Newcomer Funeral Home (3380 Dayton-Xenia Road, Beavercreek, Ohio 45432).

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hope For The Day (4252 N Cicero Avenue, Chicago, IL 60641) in Jess' memory.

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