Dr. Bruce A. Allison, 86
Dr. Bruce A. Allison passed away peacefully in the presence of family and loved ones at Kalispell Regional Medical Center on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007, after a brief illness. He was born July 1, 1921, in Columbia Falls to Dr. William Carmine Allison and Valentine (Martin) Allison.
He was a third-generation Flathead County native, grew up in Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Coram and Whitefish, and graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 1939.
He attended college at the University of Montana and graduated with a degree in pre-med in 1943, then went on to medical school at Cornell University in New York, where he received his M.D. in 1946. He had wanted to be a doctor from an early age, wishing to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dr. William Carmine Allison, who died unexpectedly in 1932 when Bruce was just 11 years of age. It was a tortuous path as he was blinded in one eye as the result of a chemistry-lab explosion during his undergraduate college years, rendering him unable to perform detailed surgery, but he persevered and got through medical school and was able to conduct a very satisfying and successful family practice over the course of more than 50 years.
Bruce was in the U.S. Army throughout medical school and after his graduation served as a doctor both in Germany and at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. He also worked at Bellevue Hospital in New York and met with and assisted in the treatment of Babe Ruth during the Babe's final illness.
Bruce married Arretta Dobrovolny, a Missoula native, in June 1943, in New York City. In the fall of 1949, the couple returned to the Flathead and opened a medical office in Hungry Horse, which was booming at the time because of the construction of the dam.
In the summer of 1950, they decided to move to Kalispell and open a medical office there. Dr. Allison worked tirelessly as a general/family practitioner in Kalispell for half a century, finally retiring in January 2000.
During his career he delivered nearly 3,000 babies in Flathead County, in addition to treating all forms of medical illnesses, injuries and conditions. For two decades he charged $75 for full prenatal care up through and including the actual delivery itself, recently commenting that a flu shot costs about that much now. He made house calls, often in the middle of the night or on the weekends, in the years prior to the existence of an ER at local hospitals. This small part of the world was a different place then, and a better place for his efforts.
Bruce and Arretta had three children, Robert Allison of Kalispell, Stuart Allison of Atlanta, and Rose Marie Bennahmias of Ladera Ranch, Calif.; and four grandchildren, Ian Allison, Paige Allison, Alycia Clore and Adam Bennahmias.
His beloved wife, Arretta, pre-deceased him in 1998, after nearly 55 years of marriage.
In the last five years of his life, he lived with his devoted companion and long-time friend, Mary Sibley, whom he had known since his high-school days in Columbia Falls in the late 1930s. His brother, Dr. William Allison, a well-known local dentist for many years, pre-deceased him in 1999.
His sister, Evelyn Grinde, lives in Ohio. He also leaves behind his brother's widow, Ebby (Beebe) Allison, of Columbia Falls, to whom he was very close; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In his rare free time, Bruce was an avid outdoorsman, canoeist, fisherman and hunter, and also enjoyed searching for arrowheads and artifacts of earlier times, much of which he contributed to museums and to the Montana Historical Society, of which he was an active member for many years.
He loved spending time at his cabin on Flathead Lake where he served for years in an informal ER, removing fish hooks from the limbs and appendages of unfortunate anglers, and planting trees on his primitive, undeveloped property on the Swan River. He was a staunch environmentalist and social liberal, but fiscally conservative. Bruce served as a hospice volunteer for years. He was on the staff of Kalispell Regional Hospital for many years and served a term as chief-of-staff of that facility when it was still located on Fifth Avenue East.
A memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at Johnson Mortuary, 525 Main St., in Kalispell, with the Rev. Tom Best officiating.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Home Options Hospice, 175 Commons Loop, Suite 100, Kalispell, MT 59901.
Johnson Mortuary and Crematory is caring for Bruce's family. You are invited to go to www.johnsonmortuary.com to offer condolences and sign Bruce's guest book.