Allison Ann Bucy, 23, was called home to be with the Lord on Friday, April 21, 2006. “Allie” died during emergency surgery at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. due to complications from Vascular Ehlers Syndrome. Following a private burial, a celebration of Allison’s life will be at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25 at Calvary Baptist Church, located at 18th and Bosque Blvd. in Waco, with the Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell officiating.
Allie was born on March 11, 1983 in Houston. She graduated from Midway High School in 2001, where she was a nationally-ranked high school debater and the UIL State 4-A champion in cross-examination debate her senior year. Allie graduated from the University of Texas in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Government. She was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and she dearly loved her friends and college experience.
Since college graduation, she was living and working in Washington, D.C. Allison’s positive outlook on living and refusal to give up after her illness was diagnosed was an inspiration to anyone who was lucky enough to have known her. Allison knew her time on earth was limited, yet she remained strong and lived each and every day to the fullest, brightening people’s lives along the journey. She was comforted by the knowledge that God was in control and she was ultimately in his hands.
She was preceded in death by the late Sam and Betty Boyd. Left to treasure the memory of her life are her parents, The Honorable Jim and Carolyn Meyer of Waco and Flynn and Lorraine Bucy of McLean, Va.; her grandparents, Dr. James and Helen Cole of Waco, Dr. Ralph and Dr. June Bucy of Harrisonburg, Va., Paul and Jane Meyer of Waco and Walter and Marylu Raushenbush of Coronado, Calif. Allie loved her siblings very much, Cole Bucy of Washington, D.C., Jason Bucy of Waco, Mike Meyer and Brady Meyer of Dallas and Johnny Bucy and Elizabeth Bucy of McLean, Va. Allie had special relationships with many aunts, uncles and cousins.
The family would like to thank Scott Phillips of Atlanta, Ga. for his special friendship with Allie. The family thanks Dr. David Hoffman of Waco, Dr. Mark Schwartze of Waco, Dr. Duke Samson of Dallas, Dr. Helen Hobbs of Dallas, Barbara Gilbert, R.N. of Dallas, Dr. Carlos Girod of Dallas, and Dr. Peter Gloviczki of the Mayo Clinic for their tender loving care of Allison.
The family suggests that for those desiring, memorials should be sent to the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation or Calvary Baptist Church of Waco. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our Memorial Guestbook.
Reproduced with permission of the Waco Tribune-Herald, Copyright 2006
Remembering Allison
by Sharlande Sledge
The glory of God is a human being fully alive. — Iraneus
On Christmas Eve 1990 we lit the Christ candles in the center of our Advent wreath at Lake Shore. During the next few weeks, the Christ Light became our Epiphany Light for all the world. It was still shining on our communion table when the first Gulf War began on January 17, 1991, and we could not bear to put it out.
One Sunday during that season of shock and fear, I saw eight-year-old Allison standing in front of the communion table after worship, looking intently at the candle. I watched as people brushed past her, hurrying away from church, but Allie didn’t move. The organ postlude swelled around her, but she didn’t seem to hear. I sat on the edge of the small pew by the organ and looked at Allie’s eyes. Nothing interfered with her intense focus on the candle. I walked down the steps and stood beside her a moment, trying to see what she saw but found myself distracted by people who wanted to talk and hurried to take off my robe.
A little while later Allie told me, “When you stood by me at the table, you probably thought I was thinking about the candle. But I was really thinking about God.”
May we pray:
Good and compassionate God,
This morning we are here to think about Allison, and we are here to think about you.
We are here to bless Allison’s life, the whole of it and the wholeness of it for every moment and fiber of her being was radiantly, fully, exuberantly alive. She came into this world “trailing clouds of glory,” wrapped in a mantel of meaning, an “old soul” cast in the shape of a precious and precocious girl, and she left this earth leaning forward into the new day and new dreams.
We bless Allison – the toddler with big brown eyes who reached out to your world with all her senses and hugged it close and give it away over and over to each person she met.
We bless Allison– the little girl with a hot pink cast on her leg, riding in a little red wagon, who with spunk and determination showed us that nothing would slow her down, who despite what others might call limitations, jumped passionately into life.
We bless Allison – the beautiful, spontaneous young woman who knew that the world is wildly alive in all directions, extravagant and bright, who dreamed of a vocation that ushered in God’s kingdom of justice and peace for every person on this earth.
Blessed be Allison – daughter of God, child of joy, generous spirit, holy gift of our Creator. Blessed be her life. She lived not the length of it but the width and depth of it as well.
O God, from the moment of her birth, Allison lived as one of your wounded healers who found energy and life in the midst of it all, who admitted her vulnerability and showed us how to live with illness and grace. Amen