Allison Marisa Himmel

Allison Marisa Himmel passed away peacefully on July 9, 2026, at 1:00 p.m., surrounded by her loving family, after a courageous four-year battle with colon cancer. Her time on earth was far too short. Just one month earlier, she had celebrated her 50th birthday surrounded by family and friends. Allison was a source of extraordinary kindness to those around her, and the impact she had on the lives of those who knew her cannot be overstated.

Allison was born on June 3, 1976, at 2:11 p.m. in Mount Vernon, New York, to Patricia and Mitchell Himmel. She grew up in Darien, Connecticut, with her parents and younger sister, Dana. During her childhood, Allison was an accomplished pianist, a competitive gymnast, and a cross-country runner in high school. As an EMT in Post 53, the volunteer ambulance group serving her hometown, Allison began her lifelong mission to care for people in need. In addition to her kindness and compassion, it was Allison’s intelligence that distinguished her from an early age. Combined with hard work, discipline, and determination, there seemed to be no limit to what she could accomplish. Allison graduated as salutatorian from Darien High School in 1994 and then moved across the country to attend Stanford University. Although she built her life and career on the West Coast, she remained very close with her parents and sister, Dana, and cherished the strong family bond they shared throughout her life.

At Stanford, she majored in Biology as part of her pre-med studies. She also found time to enjoy college life, make lifelong friendships, and study in Paris. Allison won the Firestone undergraduate research award for her work with anesthetics in a rat brain model. It was in this lab that Allison met Danny, her future husband, although there were no romantic sparks between them yet, only rat brains. Allison possessed many talents, winning the Irene Hardy/Clarence Urmy Poetry Prize at Stanford for her original poetry. She graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1998.

After college, Allison attended medical school at the University of California San Francisco, where she was known for her intelligence, hard work, empathy, and compassion. At the same time, she loved to have fun and dance. Allison and her three roommates often threw parties in their San Francisco apartment. She took time off to work at a tuberculosis clinic in Thailand, then traveled through Laos and Nepal, where she rescued a climber with altitude sickness. Allison also studied abroad in Mexico and Guatemala in order to improve her Spanish so that she could better communicate with her patients. Allison chose internal medicine because she believed it was where she could make the greatest difference for patients with complex medical needs.

Allison stayed at UCSF for her residency, where she was known for being caring and conscientious. The same attention to detail she always possessed in school was used to benefit her patients; she even had dreams about her patients’ calcium levels. Allison loved teaching medical students and younger residents. She volunteered her time at the student health center. During her last year of residency, Allison combined her love of travel with medicine once again and worked at a clinic in Tanzania. She managed to squeeze in a safari, a trip to Zanzibar, and a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro.

After completing her residency, Allison worked at Kaiser San Francisco providing primary care to patients from underserved and minority communities. She also continued to travel, including completing the Camino de Santiago in Spain by herself. In 2009, she moved to Seattle and joined the Internal Medicine hospitalist group at Harborview Medical Center, where she continued her lifelong commitment to caring for patients who often faced significant barriers to care. She spent long hours at the hospital providing compassionate care for all her patients. After she was diagnosed with colon cancer and had to step away from practice, Allison continued to maintain her licensing, credentialing, and continuing medical education because she hoped she might someday return to caring for patients again. In June 2026, just weeks before her passing, she renewed her Washington medical license.

Eight years after college, Allison and Danny reconnected in San Francisco during their medical residencies at a mutual friend’s party. During their first date, she told him that she liked to “travel and eat.” True to her word, those were two of Allison’s pleasures in life. Danny soon discovered that one of the quickest ways to Allison’s heart was through her love of food. Allison was initially reluctant to date “Danny from the lab.” He persuaded her to become his “dining buddy,” and they dined their way around San Francisco while falling in love. Together, they pursued Allison’s other great passion: travel. They traveled the world together, including memorable trips to Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Tahiti, Hawaii, Paris, Rome, Venice, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Portugal, Vienna, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Danny and Allison were married in 2009 at the Holly Farm in Carmel, California. Earlier that year, they had moved to Seattle, where they built a beautiful life together before welcoming their son, Weston, in 2013, and their daughter, Sienna, in 2015. Allison’s love of travel and food was surpassed only by her love for her children. Allison was a devoted mother who cherished her children deeply and took great joy in watching them grow and in encouraging their curiosity, kindness, and individuality.

She delighted in sharing her passion for exploration with Weston and Sienna, creating many happy memories during family trips across the United States including Alaska and Hawaii as well as trips abroad to London, Barcelona, Venice, Milan, Paris, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Montenegro, Mexico, Costa Rica, Japan, Tahiti, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Australia. Allison instilled in her children not only her love of travel, but also an appreciation for the different cuisines and cultures of the world. Before Allison’s mobility became limited, she was able to take a solo trip to complete the Camino de Portugues in 2024, fulfilling a goal she had set many years earlier. Allison continued to enjoy travelling for as long as she was able to, but her greatest joy remained the time she spent with Weston and Sienna, whom she treasured to the very end.

Throughout four years of treatment, Allison met every setback with remarkable courage, grace, and quiet determination. Even while facing her own illness, she remained deeply interested in the lives of others and never lost her instinct to care for those around her.

Allison is survived by her husband, Danny Pham; son, Weston Pham; daughter, Sienna Pham; parents, Patricia and Mitchell Himmel; and sister, Dana Himmel. Allison had a gift for making people feel known and valued, and she formed deep and lasting friendships throughout her life. She will be remembered for her extraordinary kindness, quiet humility, intellectual curiosity, and unwavering devotion to her family, friends, colleagues, and the patients she served.

Visitation will be held on Friday, July 17, from 5:00–8:00 p.m. On Saturday, July 18, there will be a second visitation from 3:00–5:00 p.m., followed by a service from 5:00–7:00 p.m. and a reception from 7:00–9:00 p.m. All services and the reception will be held at Sunset Hills Memorial Park & Funeral Home, located at 1575 145th Place SE, Bellevue, WA 98007.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Allison’s memory to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, in honor of her courageous battle with colon cancer, or Doctors Without Borders, reflecting her lifelong commitment to caring for those in need around the world.