Jan Ashley was an American former Miss Tulsa titleholder and executive secretary who later became Robert Kardashian Sr.’s second wife. Born Janice Lynn Glass in Texas, she grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She worked at Phillips Petroleum. In 1978, she married actor and producer John Ashley. She later married Kardashian in 1998. That second marriage was brief and was annulled within a year.
In this article, you’ll learn about Jan Ashley before the Kardashian name entered her life. We’ll look at her Oklahoma childhood and Miss Tulsa title. We’ll also cover her work at Phillips Petroleum. You’ll also learn about her long marriage to John Ashley and her short marriage to Robert Kardashian. Then we’ll follow the 2012 Khloé controversy and her final years back in Oklahoma.
Her Early Life Was Rooted in Oklahoma
Janice Lynn Glass was born in Amarillo, Texas, in August 1948. Her family moved to Tulsa when she was seven. Tulsa soon became the center of her early life.
Her Floral Haven obituary says she graduated from Will Rogers High School. It also records her as Miss Tulsa in 1966.
The funeral-home page has one small date conflict. Its header gives August 3 as her birth date. The obituary text says August 1. Both agree on August 1948 and Amarillo, Texas.
August 1948 is therefore the clearest way to state her birth date without forcing a day the record itself does not settle.
Jan Ashley Became Miss Tulsa in 1966
Jan Ashley won the Miss Tulsa title in 1966. She was still a young woman building a life in Oklahoma.
The title gave her a public identity long before the Kardashian family became part of her story. It also placed her in local pageant and community events.
She did not turn that title into a long show-business career. Her working life took another path.
She Built a Career at Phillips Petroleum
After school and pageant life, Ashley worked at Phillips Petroleum. Her obituary says she served as executive secretary to K. S. “Boots” Adams.
Adams was one of the company’s most important leaders. Working in his office placed her inside a major Oklahoma business.
This part of her life is easy to miss because later celebrity coverage focuses on Robert Kardashian. Yet the job shows that she had a clear career long before that short marriage.
She had already built a working life in Tulsa. She was not known only through a famous husband.
John Ashley Became Her First Husband
In 1978, she married John Ashley. He was an actor and producer. He also directed work for film and television.
The marriage lasted until his death in 1997. That made it the longest marriage of her life.
John had worked in movies before moving more deeply into production. His career gave the couple a Hollywood connection years before Jan ever met Robert Kardashian.
Her obituary remembers John as her husband and says she would later be buried beside him in California.
Her Marriage to John Ashley Lasted Nearly Two Decades
Jan Ashley spent almost twenty years married to John Ashley. That part of her life lasted far longer than the Kardashian chapter that later drew more attention.
John died in 1997 while working in New York. His death ended a marriage that had started in 1978.
By then, Ashley had spent years between Oklahoma and California. Her husband’s work also kept her close to the film and TV world.
Only after John’s death did Robert Kardashian enter her story.
Jan Ashley Married Robert Kardashian in 1998
Jan Ashley married Robert Kardashian Sr. in 1998. People identifies her as his second wife.
Kardashian had been married to Kris Jenner from 1978 to 1991. They had four children: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob.
By 1998, Robert was already well known because of his work on O.J. Simpson’s legal team. His children were not yet global reality-TV stars.
Ashley entered the family story during that quieter period.
The Marriage Ended Quickly
The marriage did not last. People reports that Robert and Ashley later annulled it within a year.
Many online biographies call it an exact 30-day marriage. That wording is more precise than the stronger reporting supports.
The timeline is simple. They married in 1998. The relationship broke down quickly. The marriage was later annulled.
That short union came after Robert’s long marriage to Kris Jenner. It came before his final marriage to Ellen Pearson.
She Did Not Have Publicly Documented Children
No children are publicly documented from either of Ashley’s marriages.
Her 2015 obituary names her brother, sister-in-law, and nephews. It does not list any sons or daughters.
Robert Kardashian already had four children before he married her. Because the marriage ended so fast, Ashley never became part of a long-term Kardashian household.
Her own life story is easier to understand through her work, first marriage, and Oklahoma roots.
The 2012 Khloé Kardashian Claim Brought Her Back Into Headlines
Jan Ashley returned to national entertainment news in January 2012.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Ashley told Star that Robert had told her Khloé was not his biological child.
Robert’s later wife Ellen Pearson made a similar claim. The story spread fast. It involved one of the most famous families in entertainment.
The Kardashian family rejected the allegation. Khloé publicly defended Robert as her father. Kris Jenner also called the claim false.
The report did not present DNA evidence proving Ashley’s statement.
The Controversy Was Only One Late Chapter
The 2012 claim became one of the most repeated parts of Ashley’s online story. It was also one of the latest chapters of her life.
By then, she had already won Miss Tulsa, worked at Phillips Petroleum, and spent almost twenty years married to John Ashley.
She had also been divorced from Robert Kardashian for more than a decade.
The headline explains why her name returned to celebrity news. It does not describe most of her life.
She Moved Back to Oklahoma
Her obituary says she returned to Oklahoma in 2012.
That move brought her back to the state where she grew up. She had finished high school there, won Miss Tulsa, and started her working life there.
She did not build a lasting media career from the Kardashian connection.
Her later years were rooted in Oklahoma. They were far from the celebrity world that later made her name widely searched.
Jan Ashley Died in 2015
Jan Ashley died on October 1, 2015, at age 67. Floral Haven handled her funeral arrangements in Oklahoma.
Her obituary does not name a medical cause of death.
Instead, it focuses on her family. It remembers her parents, brother, nephews, and late husband John Ashley.
The family planned a private service.
She Was Buried Beside John Ashley
The obituary says she would be interred beside John at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California.
That final detail brings the story back to her first husband.
John had been her partner for almost two decades. Robert Kardashian had been her husband for only a short time.
The difference helps put both marriages in better proportion.
Why Her Full Story Is Bigger Than the Kardashian Marriage
Ashley is often introduced only as Robert Kardashian’s second wife. That description is true, but it leaves out most of her life.
She grew up in Tulsa. She became Miss Tulsa in 1966. She worked at Phillips Petroleum. She spent almost twenty years married to actor and producer John Ashley.
Only later did she enter Robert Kardashian’s life. Their marriage ended quickly, but the family connection kept her name in celebrity coverage for years.
The 2012 paternity claim brought a final burst of public attention. Three years later, she died in Oklahoma.
A Life With Several Very Different Chapters
Her story moved through several worlds.
Her early years belonged to Texas and Oklahoma. Her young adult life included a pageant title and office work. Her first marriage tied her to Hollywood. Her second marriage briefly connected her to the Kardashian family.
Those chapters do not all carry the same weight. The John Ashley marriage lasted almost twenty years. The Robert Kardashian marriage lasted only a short period.
Her burial beside John gives the ending of her story a quiet sense of continuity.
Ashley was not simply a footnote in Kardashian history. She had lived most of her life before that famous surname entered it.
If you enjoy complete biographies of people whose own lives are often overshadowed by a famous marriage, read our profile of Diandra Luker next.
