Carol Allison

CAROL RADER ALLISON

“MEMA”

On Sunday, October 29, 2017, Carol Rader Allison died at the age of 76, having battled Parkinson’s Disease for sixteen years. While PD may have controlled her body, it did not define her. All who met Mema, as she was lovingly called, remember her as the sweetest, kindest, truest servant of Jesus Christ. Her life impacted many. Memories of her will always center on three things—her faith in God, her contagious smile and kind words, and her love of books.  She never met anyone she couldn’t talk to and a book she wouldn’t buy. She will be truly missed. Memorial services will be held on November 12, 2017 at Victory Baptist Church, 5843 Hwy 83 in Ovalo, TX at 4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Parkinson’s Foundation (Miami, FL) or the Southwest Parkinson’s Society, 3610 22nd St., Suite 300, Lubbock, Texas 79410 for research to end PD are greatly appreciated.

Born on March 26, 1941 in Detroit, MI to Carl and Ruth Rader, she was the oldest of four girls born to this marriage—Carol, June, Patricia, and Ruthie. After Carl left the family for California, Ruth then married Frank Jones and added two more siblings to the family—Deborah and William. Carol was the quintessential older sister to the six children, leading them with grace, love, and a strong hand.

Graduating from Cody High School in 1959, she met her future husband, Dale Allison, in Chicago. Marrying on September 24, 1960, they lived in Groton, Connecticut where Dale served in the US Navy. Their first two children, Susan and Matthew, were born during this time. They then moved to Denver, Colorado and had two more children, Sarah and Peter. In 1975 the family relocated to a 200 acre ranch in Limon, an eastern Colorado farming and ranching community. Dale worked in the local Ford dealership while Carol raised the children and began her love of dairy goats.

Living on the ranch for only six years, she and the children moved to Colorado Springs after the marriage failed. There she worked in several companies, most often as a receptionist. The next stage of life, sans children, found her moving several times, from Colorado to Kansas to Texas to Michigan and finally, back to Texas, where she has been since 2003. It is during this stage that she was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, which necessitated the final move back to Texas to live with her daughters who ministered to her in caring for her.

Carol was preceded in death by both her parents and step-father; sisters Trish, Deborah, and Connie; and nephews Bobby and Sean. She leaves behind two sisters and two brothers: June Zuch and Ruth Lorenzetti, William Jones and Carl Rader, Jr.; four children Susan, Matthew and wife Laura, Sarah and husband Steven, and Peter and wife Debbi; fourteen grandchildren—Alura, Anthony and wife Melissa, Joshua, David, Jessica and husband Tyler, Mark, Alyssa, Lydia and husband Seth, David, Rebecca, Emma, Elisabeth, Mary, and Joel; eight great-grandchildren—Malachi, Mireya, Faith, Joshua, Anthony, Lucy, Lincoln, and Levi; and fourteen nieces and nephews.