Julia Grace Ashworth was the first to help her parents out with household chores, had a “servant’s heart,” and was willing to get treats from her family’s pantry to pass around to her neighborhood friends.

She loved going to services at City Hope Church in Malbis, making sure she was sitting front row during baptisms. Ice cream outings with her family to Kraze Frozen Treats in Daphne was among her favorite family outings. She enjoyed deer hunting trips with her daddy to Clarke County, or putting on make-up, and playing Barbies. She loved playing dress-up with her mommy – they had a couple of matching dresses together – and the two would share the same bathroom drawer, brushing their teeth together.

The 7-year-old dreamed of being a doctor someday. She cherished her two older brothers and her two great-grandmothers after whom she is named.

“She loved doing stuff, always wanted to do something for someone no matter what it was,” said her father, Jon Paul Ashworth, who goes by the name J.P., during a sit-down interview with AL.com from his home in the Spanish Fort Estates as he talked about his daughter who died on August 3, from the mosquito-borne Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus.

Only 78 people in the U.S. have died from the virus since 2003, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only three human cases have been reported this year, two of them occurring within the same neighborhood in Spanish Fort.

“She’d play with the boys and swim, but an hour later she would come in to play with her doll house,” J.P. said. “She loved the outdoors, watched everyone skin a deer and was fascinated by it. Wore camo. Loved to do everything. She was so well-rounded.”

She was also a princess. Literally.

Crowned “Princess Julia” two weeks before her death, Julia Ashworth was one of five girls at the Neighborhood School in Daphne honored during the school’s “Fairytale Ball” on July 20. She stood with her fellow princesses, waved regally at the toddlers and younger children who bowed or curtsied before them. Moments later, the school’s owner – Queen Carriann Toombs – bestowed a crown atop Julia’s head.

“Once a princess at The Neighborhood School, always a princess,” Toombs often says. The princesses signed a poster to celebrate their year of coronation as part of a tradition that began in 2005.

“When she found out she was getting crowned, she was so excited,” J.P. said.

Julia’s brother was also a star of the ball, making it a family affair. Caleb, 10, a 5th grader at Spanish Fort Elementary School, was dressed up as Michael Jackson and did an almost dead ringer version of the famous singer’s “Billie Jean” dance as parents and children – including Julia – clapped and cheered.

‘Putting a face’ to EEE

The memory is a lasting one for a family coping with unimaginable grief since Julia Grace died a few days after she became unresponsive after getting out of her family’s swimming pool.

At the time, the family was unable to link the death to a mosquito bite, let alone a deadly virus caused by the insect. Julia, her father said, had no pre-existing health conditions and had “perfect health” for a child.

The family did not receive confirmation that she died of the EEE virus until August 18, which was the same day the City of Spanish Fort alerted the community about two human cases of EEE. The other case occurred within the same Spanish Fort Estates subdivision to a man who is still recovering from its effects. Another case of EEE was later confirmed in a horse in Baldwin County.

Spanish Fort city officials, since learning about the EEE cases, contracted with Vector Disease Control International (VDCI) to handle the spraying and capturing of insects within the neighborhood. Thus far, none of the insects captured in Spanish Fort and tested at VDCI’s lab in Dallas have come back positive for EEE.

“It’s encouraging,” said Caroline Efstathion, regional director of Mosquito Control Services LLC with VDCI. “We are continuing daily surveillance in areas of concern and doing treatments as needed. We’ve enhanced our larvicide (application). We’ll continue that for the next several weeks to keep those vector populations low.”

She added, “Having two human cases in an area is very unusual. People need to take extra caution. We are doing as much as we can on our end.”

After receiving confirmation that Julia had EEE, J.P. and his wife, April, began to immediately notice the chatter while stopping off at a Home Depot store.

News reports in recent weeks referred to the EEE death of a 7-year-old girl, and the Ashworth’s have politely turned down TV interview requests.

“My wife overheard two men in the aisle, where the bug spray was located, talking about ‘some 7-year-old in Spanish Fort,’” J.P. recalled. “They said, ‘I got grandkids coming over. I don’t know what to get.’”

April interjected with an ‘excuse me,’ and then proceeded to inform the men that the unnamed girl was her daughter.

“And we started the awareness and education right there,” J.P. said. “(Bug spray needs to contain) at least 30 percent DEET to be effective. But my wife wanted to put a name and face to ‘some 7-year-old’ girl.”

‘Precautionary measures’

On average, about 11 human cases of EEE are reported each year in the United States, making it highly unusual for two cases to occur within the same neighborhood within three weeks of each other.

Despite the rarity of EEE, statistics about the virus are alarming. According to the CDC, approximately one third of people with encephalitis due to EEE die. Death can happen two to 10 days after the onset of symptoms but can also occur much later.

There are no vaccines and no treatments for EEE, and many survivors suffer from ongoing neurologic problems including convulsions, paralysis, and intellectual disabilities.

J.P. said his family had taken plenty of precautions, even before EEE entered their lives. They have a screened-in pool, and often spray bug repellant before going outdoors. They have had their property sprayed for insects.

“We took every precautionary measure possible,” he said. “My wife gets (mosquito bites) so bad. Part of the story is, ‘Hey look, we did everything.’ Trust me, the screened-in (pool) and the sprays and it can still happen.”

‘Always giving’

The unusual cause of Julia’s death has stirred J.P. to action. He is starting a non-profit that he hopes to get up and going soon and intends to utilize to memorialize her young life.

Called “The Julia Grace Foundation,” the organization’s purpose is to raise funds and to give back through ways that have a connection to his daughter’s life, as well as to the cause of her death.

“She was always giving,” J.P. said. “She always wanted to do something for someone no matter what it is.”

To that end, J.P. said the non-profit will be used to raise money to support Spanish Fort Elementary students who need financial assistance. Julia was to begin the second grade at the elementary school this year.

“Maybe it’s to pay for a SnoWizard, or to give a scholarship or a reward,” J.P. said. “Maybe it’s backpacks.”

He added, “Next year, Julia would’ve been in the third grade. So whatever donation we do, if Julia was still here, she’d be in the third grade (and it will support the third grade or a third grader). We always talked to our children that there are a lot of people who cannot afford the extra $2 for pizza day. That kind of thing.”

J.P. also wants to utilize the foundation as a community awareness connection to mosquito-borne illness that occur due to Mobile and Baldwin counties proximity to the swampland of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta.

“Having someone who lost a child to EEE, that’s really specific,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll be able to help in that. But I’m thinking about any type of virus or anything that can be transferred by a mosquito – West Nile Virus, Malaria. Any of those mosquito-borne illnesses, and to bring about a preventative measure.”

He said the foundation could help places where Julia loved the most. For instance, J.P. said he would like to find a way to use the foundation to assist in the mosquito spraying at the Neighborhood School.

J.P., whose background is in Real Estate marketing, said he plans to put together a video about the foundation and begin promoting it via social media.

J.P. is the foundation’s president, April its vice-president. Also assisting as treasurer is Angie Tew, April’s best friend whose 17-year-old son, Adam Clark, died during the 2015 Dauphin Island regatta race that killed six people. Lillian Travis, a Fairhope-based Realtor and longtime family friend, is the secretary.

Tew came up with the phrase, “Live on, Julia Grace” that appears on bracelets the family is giving out as a show of support. It’s a similar to “Live on Adam,” which Tew created and linked to the non-profit Adam Clark Foundation that raises money for charities.

For now, the family is requesting anyone who wants to make a donation to do so at a Go Fund Me account that was set up last month. The money raised “will help others and support other charity organizations in memory of Julia,” according to the site. More than $10,000 has been raised so far, and the contributions will help build capital to support the new foundation, J.P. said.

‘I love you’

For now, the family is grieving and moving ahead with a year of difficult firsts. Already, the first day of school has passed. Halloween is a big event within their neighborhood, and J.P. isn’t sure what the family will do about the holiday this year. Then there is Christmas.

The Fourth of July also coincides with Julia’s birthday on July 1. Julia’s brother Caleb’s birthday is July 3. The family would have big get-togethers and shoot off fireworks to celebrate the holiday and the birthdays.

J.P., April, and Caleb are planning to make trips to Auburn University, where the oldest son Jon Paul Ashworth Jr. (also known as J.P.) attends college. The 18-year-old is starting his freshman year at the university and is someone who Julia looked up to.

“She always wanted to be held by him and just loved being around him,” her father said. “She was worried that as he went to Auburn, she wouldn’t see him for the next four years. I was like, ‘No, he will be coming home’ and explained that (situation) to her.”

Strong neighborhood support has helped the family since Julia’s death, and J.P. said he was impressed witnessing Spanish Fort Estates residents recently rallying to protect the rest of the community. He noted that during a recent Saturday, residents assisted others in draining pools, and passing out flyers informing the neighbors about the need to take precautions.

“The community has been great to us from the city to the neighborhood to the school and our friends,” he said. “It’s really been overwhelming how much support we’ve had.”

Community support aside, the tragedy has left an emptiness at the Ashworth home. J.P. said he has since unplugged the front doorbell that Julia would often ring whenever she ran inside the house.

J.P. said the one thing that has helped him move slowly forward is knowing his daughter, at such a young age, had a strong relationship with and curiosity toward God.

“About a year and a half ago, she said, ‘Hey dad, I want to learn more about God,’” he said. “She said, ‘Hey dad, who do you love more? Me or God?’ I said, ‘I love you.’ She said, ‘Oh no. You should love God. I love God more than you.’”

J.P. chuckled, “I mean for a 6-or-7-year-old to say that? Everyone says their child is perfect, and they should. Julia was perfect.”