Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Allison Elizabeth Smith was born in Wimpole Hall, England, to Marlena and Jerry Smith in 1958. Her parents worked hard, as they focused on young Allison's happiness. Allison was always surrounded by her wonderful extended family in England and she was greatly loved. Pursuing new job opportunities, Jerry flew to the United States in search of a perfect home and a future for his family. He found that home in Glendale, California. Marlena and Allison joined Jerry in 1962, when Allison was four-years-old. A few years later, in 1965, when Marlena's mother was dying of cancer, Marlena took Allison with her from America for six months to stay at the family's home just outside Cambridge. Allison was seven-years-old at the time. Three weeks after Marlena and Allison returned to America, sadly Marlena's mother passed away in May 1966. Allison was an only child and her education was very important to both Marlena and Jerry. As a result, they enrolled Allison in the private Peter Pan School where she excelled. She was always a good student and she loved sports. She participated in track and she played on the high school softball team when she attended Glendale High School. Her parents attended the many school events over the years, as they were so very proud of Allison. They had a great influence on her spirit in life, as she was so strong just like her mother. She was also her father's girl as well. Both of her parents were very present in her life and the three of them were very close. Allison was a normal teenager and there were times when she snuck out of her bedroom to spend time with her friends. She was an entertainer and a people person who loved all of her friends. Allison went on to graduate from Hoover High School.

With a love of travel, Allison and her high school boyfriend, Mike, traveled Europe together. A year after high school, she stayed with her Aunt Sandra in England, as she attended Cambridge Marlborough Secretarial College. While attending Secretarial College, she made a good friend named Clare. They'd snuggle up together to stay warm, as they'd wait and take turns to run downstairs to put coins into the heater. She and Clare have kept in touch all these years. Allison had a great love for horses. In fact, she enjoyed caring for and riding Sandra's horses.

One of Allison's first jobs was working for an entertainment company that managed the finances for celebrities in Los Angeles. Part of her work was driving to celebrity homes and giving the celebrities their weekly allowance. Professionally, Allison worked in Title Insurance for 30 years. She enjoyed the detailed work and became very close friends with many of her co-workers over the years.

Allison and Ramsay shared the same group of friends in high school and they connected a few years later. They had a lot in common and enjoyed the same things. The couple welcomed their pride and joy when their daughter was born. They named her Claire and she was a gift to the entire family. Claire was the only grandchild on Allison's side of the family and the first grandchild on Ramsay's side. Both sets of grandparents were overjoyed with Claire's birth. Allison's parents, Marlena and Jerry, were known as "Nana and Poppa" and Ramsay's parents, Jennie and Phillip, were known as "Grandmother and Granddaddy." From the moment Claire was born, Allison read books to her in the crib. She spent a lot of time reading and singing to her. She made sure Claire had a very full, very good life.

Allison and Ramsay remained very close friends over the years and they raised Claire together. Claire spent many delightful times with Nana and Poppa, as Christmas was overwhelming with Marlena and Jerry. The living room was always overflowing with presents for Christmas. There were times that there were so many presents to open, young Claire would say, "No more presents." It was a family overflowing with love at every turn. Allison was very generous with Claire, as she encouraged special travels when Claire spent a month every summer with her Grandmother and Granddaddy. To mark Claire's birthdays, Allison had pool parties, face painters and one time, Mickey Mouse attended her party.

Allison attended all of Claire's Christmas pageants and she loved hearing her sing when she was young. She enjoyed watching Claire's softball games as Claire led the league in walks and she liked it when Claire ran cross-country and track. Allison drove Claire to every practice and she was a very supportive mother. She even helped Claire throw New Year's Eve parties for her friends when she was younger. Allison let the kids play with silly string, confetti and make a mess. She didn't care as long as the kids were having fun. In fact, Allison was the mom all of Claire's friends wanted to be around. Allison was very funny, opinionated, and stubborn at times, but she was also honest, very loving, smart and logical. She was open and always gave Claire good advice. Allison had a very good relationship with her daughter, exactly as she had with her own parents.

Over the years, Allison loved collecting things. She collected many wooden boxes and Murano Glass from Venice. She loved shopping and had a red hot credit card. Allison adored traveling and visited England once a year and her relatives from England also visited regularly. She had many close friends and she loved to talk on the phone. She could tell the same story many times to dozens of her friends, but the best version of the story went to the last person. Her stories were always hilarious. She enjoyed listening to music, especially classic rock such as Queen, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones. She also liked songs by Celine Dion. Allison liked to dance, especially when she went to Vegas. Las Vegas was a favorite fun spot for Allison and her friends. She liked playing the slot machines, Blackjack, and entertaining friends and strangers alike. She had a magic way of turning strangers into friends as they followed her to the next table. They wanted to be with her and they wanted to sit at the table where she was sitting. She'd grab a pair of her Groucho Marx eyebrows and mustache and she'd put them on when the next hand was dealt. She surprised everyone, as she made people laugh and smile. Her presence filled the room. In England, they thought she was a comedienne. She'd start a conversation and everyone wanted to listen to "Big Mama."

With a love of books, Allison liked reading murder mysteries, crime stories or legal dramas. Her favorite TV shows were The Forensic Files and CSI. She always wanted to do forensics because she found it fascinating. She also loved watching soap operas. Her favorite soap opera was "All My Children." She recorded her favorite shows and kept the TV on all night long. She liked watching the ABC show Extreme Makeover. When they made over someone's home who was truly in need, it made her cry. Even though Allison was a strong lady, she was also sensitive and easily moved. When Princess Diana passed away, Allison attended her memorial service. The TV camera got a close up shot of Allison at the service. She was wearing a big black hat and tears were streaming down her face. Her teary appearance even made the national news in the states. Allison always loved wearing hats and she wore them beautifully. Her favorite saying was "Yeah, baby," and she often told those closest to her, "I love you."

One of Allison's hobbies was gardening. She'd spend Sunday afternoons going to Lowes to buy bags of soil, flowers and plants. She brought them home and planted the flowers enjoying her gardening. Allison loved roses and so did her father. For a while, they had a competition focused on who could grow the most beautiful rose. When she brought home a Princess Di rose, it was clear that she won. Allison had a big heart for animals. After Claire went to college, she bought a German Shepherd from Germany. She named him "Andy," but she did have to speak German to him at first because those were the commands he understood. He's since learned English. She also took in "Huey." He was a rescue dog and when she saw his picture online, she drove to a great distance to save him.

Allison loved holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. She enjoyed setting up miniature cities and towns at Christmastime. She had lots of Santas, carolers, lights and many decorations. When it came to cooking, Allison had her specialties of breakfast potatoes and barbequed steak. She loved to barbeque. Her favorite meal was Rib-Eye Steak with Béarnaise sauce. Her favorite drink was Pepsi and she liked Pomegranate Martinis and margaritas. For a fun meal, she liked going to Chevy's. She took Claire to Chevy's to celebrate her 21st birthday. That is where Claire had her first margarita. Allison was so happy that Claire had the chance to show her ID.

She made people laugh so often. There were a lot of parties every other Friday night after work. Allison wasn't the life of the party; she was the party. Her pink feather boa was a classic accessory that she loved wearing to parties. She had a lot of different themes for parties including a spectacular squirt gun party. She once stuffed people into a shower, including her boss, to see how many people would fit into a single shower. The shower fit 20 people. She just liked to have fun. Many birthdays were spent in Las Vegas and the girls spent a week in Vegas every June. Allison was very persuasive and the hotel always bumped her up to a suite and sent huge fruit baskets to her room. She enjoyed making calls for her family and friends to get them better treatment at hotels. Allison loved playing jokes on her friends, too. After Sherrie's family had to deal with the Helivac twice after going Quad racing in the desert, Sherrie received a phone call. It was Mrs. Johnson from the Helivac company asking if Sherrie wanted to sign up a special family plan for the Helivac service. Allison's sense of humor was one of a kind. Another time, when Roseanne stopped at the AM/PM, Allison went inside. Moments later she came running out of the store, threw wads of money at Roseanne and said, "Go! Go! I just robbed the store!" Roseanne yelled, "What?! What?!" It was a prank and it was actually Allison's cash that she had planned to spend in Las Vegas. If anyone in Vegas asked her what she did for a living she responded seriously, "I'm a pole dancer," or she said, "I'm a neurosurgeon." It was a line she used often, until one time she was actually sitting next to a neurosurgeon. She played games with people. One time she went to Fredericks of Hollywood with friends Harry and Darlene and she said to Harry, "Daddy, you said I could have any toy. I want the handcuffs." It shocked some people in the store, but it made Allison laugh. She and her friends wrote several songs over the years to the tune of "Camptown Races, doo-da, doo-da." Allison once stayed up all night long to write a new, funny version of the song after her friends wrote a song just for her.

Simon, who was like a brother to Allison, was also a close family confidante. Allison was also close with Simon's parents, as was her family. When Allison went to Venice with her mother, Marlena, and Simon's parents, Pat and John, she got up early one day and asked John to take her to the station so she could spend the day on her own. Pat and John were hours behind her, but as they turned a corner there was Allison eating an ice cream. She laughed and said she had already had four ice creams. That trip was so special for her mother, who wanted one last visit to see her family and travel abroad.

The most difficult times of Allison's life were her father's passing in 2007 followed by her mother's passing in 2008. She was her mother's caregiver after her father passed away and the house was filled with memories. It was difficult and emotional living at the house, but at the same time it was where she needed to be. And, her dogs loved the space as well as they had room to run. Allison and Ramsay started getting closer after Jerry and Marlena passed away. The couple spent more time together. Allison always loved Ramsay. In May 2009, the family saw Claire graduate from New York University with a degree in Creative Writing and Literature. It was bittersweet for Allison. While she was unbelievably proud of Claire's accomplishments, she was saddened because her parents couldn't see the moment with her. Ramsay was a huge support for Allison and in many ways he brought her back to life. She never stopped loving him. The best part of her life was always her family. Allison and Ramsay had many plans for the future. They wanted to travel, go to Hawaii, and redo the house. A new life was starting for her, and while she missed her mum and dad, she and Ramsay were now there for each other.

In the hospital, Allison kept her sense of humor intact. When they came to her room to take her to physical therapy, she told them she had two TV shows to watch first. She'd call Ramsay and tell him to bring a list of things she couldn't have in the hospital. They never really snuck anything in from that list, but they did bring her popsicles and her favorite chicken. She joked to the nurses, "I got a chocolate chip today." She even made the nurses laugh. On the Sunday before she passed, Allison giggled with her family while watching an episode of "I Love Lucy." She told everyone to go home because she was going to sleep. She said, "I love you," and blew them all kisses. Claire flew back to New York, but things unexpectedly took a turn and Claire flew right back to LA to be by her side. In her final moments, Claire, Ramsay, Brenda and Greg surrounded Allison. They held her hands and told her they loved her. Their voices were the last voices she heard, as she passed away peacefully on St. Patrick's Day.

Allison's purpose in life was to make everybody laugh. Her presence was big and filled the room. She was fiercely loyal, she wanted to be your friend and she was very generous in sharing her joy in life. She believed in every cause of the moment and she was thoughtful. Allison saw cleaning ladies walking the hillside roads and she did the unexpected. She'd stop her car, pick them up and give them a ride to the top. She was hugely gentle and never judged anyone. She took you as she found you. Allison believed she would be reunited with her parents and her family feels that they will be reunited with her one day as well. While Allison is at peace with her parents, her family knows there is a big party in Heaven. The family is honoring Allison's wishes to be cremated and have her ashes scattered in one big last trip around the world to England, Las Vegas, New York, and wherever her family and friends travel in the years to come. Her advice to everyone would be to live now, don't be sad, remember how great life was for her and remember to laugh!

Allison was preceded in death by her parents, Marlena and Jerry. She is loved and remembered by her daughter Claire; loving partner Ramsay; Claire's grandparents Jennie and Phillip; aunts and uncles Alan, Sandra, Graham, Christopher, Margaret, Patrick, Bruce, Frank, Sharon and Jack; close friends Greg and Simon and Simon's parents Pat and John; extended family, many cousins and an extraordinary amount of adoring friends.

Jerry Smith - father
Marlena Smith - mother

Allison dancing with Graham at family wedding in England

Allison hanging from tree branch, England 1965

Allison taking toy from Blackie, England 1965

Allison on one of our many walks with Blackie, England 1965

Allison cute smile, Cambridge, England, winter of 1965