William Allison - Obituary

ILLIAM ANDREW ALLISON of Temple Hills, MD was born on July 5, 1921 in Providence Township, North Carolina. He was raised by his great grandmother Roxie Harrison Jones on a farm. He found Christ at an early age and was baptized through the Jonesville AME Zion Church, Jonesville, North Carolina. He attended grades 1-7 at a two-room schoolhouse in Jonesville. He later attended high school at Second Ward High School in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated in 1941. Mr. Allison joined the Navy on December 17, 1941 and was honorably discharged on October 27, 1947. The highlight of his navy career was serving on the US Navy submarine, the USS Grampus. Following his honorable service, he enrolled in Johnson C. Smith University and graduated in 1951. While in attendance he joined the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He was a certified school teacher of high school science and Spanish in the state of Georgia and taught for one year. Mr. Allison moved to Washington, DC in 1952 and began his career with the US Postal Service. He retired in 1989 as a Mail Processing Inspector after 43 years of service between the Navy and the Postal Service. He completed one year of Law School at Georgetown University. He devoted most of his spare time to historical research and writing about Black History. He completed one work, entitled, "Race, Religion, and Slavery in Providence Township", a history of his hometown area, and was working on a book about the history of slavery in the United States. He will be remembered for his love a nature, several bird feeders, and sharing from his vegetable gardens. He made a solo two-week trip to Africa that concluded in Dakar, Senegal. He visited sites related to the slave trade. Last but not least to mourn his passing would be his 1990 Acura Integra, his favorite traveling companion. Their last long trip was to Kansas to visit the John Brown museum. As late as last year one whom studied history made history by attending the 50th Anniversary of the famous March on Washington in 1963. He attended both events carrying the same sign you see on the cover of the program. A Washington Post photo of him and his sign went viral on the internet. He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Willie Bell Allison; daughter, Roxie Kate Allison-Holman; granddaughters, Sydney Allison Holman and Tyler Elizabeth Holman; son-in-law, Maj. Gen. Sanford Eugene. Holman; sister, Virginia Davis; brother, Erskine Miller(Janie)and several relatives and friends. He had one son and one daughter, five grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren from a previous marriage and they reside in Charlotte, North Carolina. Relatives and friends are invited to William's Life Celebration on Monday, June 2, 2014 from 10:30am until time of service at 11:30am at United Methodist Church of the Redeemer, 1901 Iverson St., Temple Hills, MD 20748. Interment Maryland Veterans Cemetery, Cheltenham, MD at 2pm. Visit the Link: http://rollingout.com/photos/event-photos-photos/instagram-photos-from-march-on-washingtons-50th-anniversary/#_