Jan Ashley was Robert Kardashian Sr.’s second wife, but her story began decades before their short-lived marriage. Born Janice Lynn Glass in Texas, she grew up in Oklahoma, held a local beauty-pageant title, and married actor-producer John Ashley. Her 1998 wedding to Kardashian and comments she made about his family years later explain why her name still appears in searches about the famous attorney.
Jan Ashley (1948–2015), born Janice Lynn Glass, was an American former Miss Tulsa and executive secretary best known as Robert Kardashian Sr.’s second wife. They married on November 25, 1998, before their marriage ended in annulment in 1999. She had previously been married to actor and producer John Ashley.
Family Profile
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Janice Lynn Glass Ashley |
| Known As | Jan Ashley |
| Date of Birth | August 1948 |
| Birthplace | Amarillo, Texas, USA |
| Raised In | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Education | Will Rogers High School |
| Pageant Title | Miss Tulsa (1966) |
| Profession | Executive Secretary at Phillips Petroleum |
| First Husband | John Ashley (1978–1997) |
| Second Husband | Robert Kardashian Sr. (1998–1999; annulled) |
| Children | No children documented with Robert Kardashian |
| Date of Death | October 1, 2015 |
| Age at Death | 67 years |
| Later Residence | Oklahoma, USA (returned in 2012) |
Who Was Jan Ashley Before the Kardashians?
Janice Lynn Glass Ashley was an American former Miss Tulsa titleholder and executive secretary. Her connection to the Kardashian family arrived relatively late in her life: she was 50 when she married Robert Kardashian in November 1998. By then, she had been married and widowed.
Much of what is known about her comes from a family obituary rather than television appearances or entertainment interviews. That record illuminates her life beyond the Kardashian headlines.
Her name also requires some care. She appears in historical records as Janice Lynn Glass, in her obituary as Janice Lynn Ashley, and in entertainment coverage as Jan Ashley. All three names refer to the same woman.
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Early Life, Education, and Miss Tulsa in 1966
Ashley was born in Amarillo, Texas, in August 1948. According to her Floral Haven Funeral Home obituary, her family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when she was seven. She attended Will Rogers High School there, and Tulsa remained an important location throughout her life. The obituary names her parents as James Douglas Glass and Monnie M. Glass, grounding her early biography in family testimony rather than later celebrity profiles.
Her obituary’s header lists August 3 as her birthday, while its narrative gives August 1. Given that discrepancy, August 1948 is the safest birth date to report.
In 1966, she represented Tulsa in the Miss Oklahoma competition. A historical contestant archive independently lists “Miss Tulsa Janice Lynn Glass” among that year’s entrants. Jane Anne Jayroe became Miss Oklahoma and later Miss America 1967; Ashley held the local Tulsa title.
Her Career and Marriage to John Ashley
Before her second marriage brought her into Kardashian family reporting, Ashley worked as an executive secretary to K. S. “Boots” Adams at Phillips Petroleum. Her obituary does not detail her employment dates or subsequent positions. The role is nevertheless a specific, independently attributable part of her biography, not a career invented to fill gaps in her celebrity profile.
She later married John Ashley, an actor and producer, in 1978. The couple moved to California, where his career involved film and television production. His IMDb credits include acting roles in 1960s beach movies and producing work on The A-Team. Those credits belonged to John, not Jan.
John died in New York City in October 1997 while associated with a film production. Jan’s obituary remembers him as her husband and says she would ultimately be interred beside him. Their marriage lasted nearly two decades.
Jan Ashley and Robert Kardashian’s 1998 Marriage
Robert Kardashian was already known for his involvement in O.J. Simpson’s defense when he married Ashley. He had previously been married to Kris Jenner, with whom he shared Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob. Their divorce had been finalized in 1991.
Ashley and Kardashian married on November 25, 1998. That date appears in Kardashian’s signed declaration concerning his request to annul their marriage. The union is often described as lasting a month, but annulment proceedings extended into 1999; the declaration was dated May 13.
Kardashian’s first wife was Kris; his third was Ellen Pierson, whom he married in 2003, shortly before his death. People’s overview of his marriages confirms this order.
What Robert Kardashian Said About the Annulment
In his May 1999 declaration, Kardashian explained that he and Ashley had originally agreed to have a child together. He said he changed his mind approximately two months after their wedding because he already had four biological children and did not want more. He explicitly accepted responsibility for changing that expectation.
The document records his account during the annulment rather than a recollection offered years later. He signed it in Beverly Hills under penalty of perjury, providing a dated record of his stated intention to end the marriage.
Ashley later offered a different emphasis, alleging in a 2014 interview that tensions involving Kardashian’s former wife and children affected the marriage. Her comments were not independent proof of misconduct by his relatives.
Jan Ashley, Ellen Pierson, and the 2012 Headlines
Ashley and Ellen Pierson are sometimes grouped together in stories about Robert Kardashian, but they were married to him at different times. Ashley’s marriage came in 1998; Pierson became his third wife in 2003. Their public connection intensified in January 2012, when both were quoted in press coverage questioning Khloé Kardashian’s paternity.
ABC News reported the allegations after they appeared in Star magazine. Ashley claimed that Kardashian had privately told her Khloé was not his biological daughter. Pierson also described alleged doubts. These were assertions attributed to the women, not established genetic evidence.
Khloé rejected the story, and Kris Jenner challenged the claims during an appearance on Good Morning America. The coverage returned Ashley to the headlines years after her marriage ended. It did not produce publicly documented proof supporting the paternity accusation.
What the Contemporary Documents Actually Establish
There is a direct contradiction between those later allegations and Kardashian’s signed May 1999 statement. In it, he described having four biological children, which included Khloé among the children he shared with Kris. E! News examined the declaration in January 2012, after the magazine allegations became public.
The statement records Kardashian’s own position at the time; it is not a genetic test. The available sources do not establish that Ashley’s allegation was correct, and speculation about Khloé’s parentage adds nothing reliable to Ashley’s biography.
Did Jan Ashley Have Children?
Kardashian’s declaration stated that Ashley had no children when they married and that they initially planned to have one together. No child from their marriage is documented. Her 2015 obituary mentions her brother, sister-in-law, and nephews but does not name any son or daughter.
Robert Kardashian’s four children were from his previous marriage to Kris Jenner. Ashley’s short marriage to their father did not make her their biological mother, and the public record does not establish a lasting parental role. There is no basis for assigning her a daughter or son based on a search term.
Her Later Years and 2015 Obituary
Ashley’s later years were less extensively covered than the 2012 controversy. Her obituary says she returned to Oklahoma in 2012 after living in California. Oklahoma was also where she attended school and earned her pageant title.
She died on October 1, 2015, at age 67. Floral Haven’s obituary records a private family service and says she would be interred beside John Ashley at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California. It does not specify a cause of death, so reports assigning one without additional evidence should be approached cautiously.
The obituary also names her brother, Jerry D. Glass, and members of his family. It remembers her as a sister and aunt, not only a former celebrity spouse. Claims that she is still living contradict this record.
Conclusion
Jan Ashley was a former Miss Tulsa titleholder, executive secretary, and the widow of actor-producer John Ashley before she became Robert Kardashian’s second wife. Their 1998 marriage ended in annulment, and her later remarks about his family attracted renewed press attention. Her obituary and the contemporary legal record provide a clearer account of her life than the rumors that followed it.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who was Jan Ashley?
Jan Ashley was an American former Miss Tulsa titleholder and executive secretary who became Robert Kardashian Sr.’s second wife in 1998. Born Janice Lynn Glass, she was also previously married to actor and producer John Ashley.
2. When was Jan Ashley born, and how old was she?
Jan Ashley was born in August 1948 in Amarillo, Texas. Her obituary contains conflicting dates for the exact day of her birth. She died on October 1, 2015, at age 67.
3. How long were Jan Ashley and Robert Kardashian married?
Jan Ashley and Robert Kardashian married on November 25, 1998. Their relationship ended quickly, and the marriage was annulled in 1999. Although commonly described as a month-long marriage, the legal annulment process continued into 1999.
4. Did Jan Ashley have any children?
Robert Kardashian stated in his 1999 declaration that Ashley had no children when they married. They had no documented children together, and her obituary does not identify any sons or daughters.
5. Is Jan Ashley still alive?
No. Jan Ashley died on October 1, 2015, at age 67. Her obituary was published by Floral Haven Funeral Home and Crematory in Oklahoma, where she had returned to live in 2012.
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