Meet Our Staff - Escalon & Ripon, CA

Ashley Dinneen

Managing Partner

Ashley was born and raised in Modesto, California; she attended Modesto High, Modesto Junior College and finished her education at California State University, Stanislaus, earning her Bachelor's degree in Forensic Anthropology. Ashley comes from a farming background in West County Modesto in the Wood Colony area, where her family has farmed almonds for three generations.

Ashley was brand new to the funeral industry when she started at Franklin & Downs Funeral Home in May of 2012. Previously, she interned at the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office working as an autopsy tech. She also coached competitive gymnastics for ten years prior to joining Franklin & Downs. In March 2015, Ashley took the position of Managing Partner for Deegan Funeral Chapels in Escalon and Ripon.

Ashley and her husband, Garrett have 5 children and enjoy spending time at the beach, traveling and boating.

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Jack & Joanne Deegan

Ambassador

Former owner of Deegan Funeral Chapel

Jack, a resident of Ripon and Escalon, moved to Escalon in 1953 when his parents purchased the funeral home in Escalon. In Escalon, he attended Dent Elementary School and Escalon High School. He went to Cal Berkeley and then transferred to San Francisco College of Mortuary Science, obtaining his funeral director and embalming licenses and graduating in 1962. Jack worked for about five years at a funeral home in Modesto and then started working with his dad in Escalon in 1968. In 1975, when his dad retired, Jack purchased the funeral home in Escalon. In 1988, Jack purchased the funeral home in Ripon. In May 2002, he sold both of the funeral homes so that he could enjoy retirement, but he continues to work some of the services with us.

Mary Rocha

Funeral Arranger

Mary grew up in West Modesto on a dairy and her grandfather’s ranch. She attended Hart-Ransom Unified School, where she was the 3^rd generation of her family to attend and Graduated from Modesto High School in 1999. Mary is the mother to two beautiful daughters, who also attended Hart-Ransom. She and her daughters enjoy being part of the Portuguese community. They performed in the Portuguese dance groups; Luso and Folklore and traveled to many towns with those groups and marching in the parade for the Festa’s.

After graduating the EMT program at Modesto Junior College and working in retail and farm for many years, she felt that a career change was needed. Mary has been with Deegan Funeral Chapel since early 2018 and enjoys helping the families she meets. She is compassionate to each and every family she encounters, she has firsthand experience on losing a loved one since the passing of her mother in 2009. Mary enjoys going to Asilomar, her mom’s favorite beach, the mountains and traveling as often as she can with her boyfriend, John and their beautifully blended family.

Nicole Kott

Funeral Director/ Apprentice Embalmer

Nicole grew up in a beach town in sunny Southern California, but has been a local resident for the last 10 years. She attended the Mortuary Science Program at American River College, where she obtained her Mortuary Science Degree. Education is very important to her, and she plans to continue academic pursuits in business and become dually licensed as both a funeral director and embalmer next year. Prior to entering into the funeral industry, Nicole spent 8 years working in the medical field in various occupations such as a certified nursing assistant for Med/Surg and skilled nursing  and a rehabilitation aide.

 Nicole is also a busy mother of two girls, and she enjoys spending time with them and supporting their academic and extracurricular activities. In her free time, Nicole loves outdoor adventures, travel, family vacations and time spent curled up with a good book, documentary or podcast. 

Carol Gish

Funeral Assistant

Carol was born in "house on the prairie" country, the plains of Kansas. Her family moved to California when she was ten where she has remained in the Modesto and Ripon area. After graduating from Grace Davis High School and Modesto Junior College, she was a legal secretary with the Stanislaus County District Attorney's office for a time. From 1986 until 2016 Carol was employed with Ripon's long-established medical family practice office, now Ripon Family Physicians. There she engaged in axillary patient care, staff management, and business assistance; support and advocacy. Since June 2017 Carol is a part time Funeral Assistant with Deegan Chapels in Ripon and Escalon. She has volunteered with Modesto Pregnancy Center and currently in various ministries with Ripon Grace Church. Carol was married to Richard Bauman for 45 years until he was called home in 2014.  Their son, Greg and his wife, Lisa, live in Ripon. Greg is a Battalion Chief, Ripon Fire Department, and Lisa is an Activity Director at Bethany Home Skilled Nursing Facility. We are grateful for our Ripon home and for active participation in community care. 

Garrett Dinneen

Funeral Assistant

Garrett grew up in Linden, California.  He attended Linden High School and San Joaquin Delta College.  Before coming to Deegans, Garrett worked for several years as a roughneck in the oil fields in North Dakota.  

Garrett enjoys playing hockey, spending time in the outdoors and being with family.