Anna Dorsey Allison

Anna Dorsey “Ann Dorsey” Cooke Allison, 88, passed away at Abbotswood at Irving Park in Greensboro, North Carolina, on August 8, 2025. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was the daughter of Dr. Giles Buckner Cooke, a research chemist and college professor, and Anna Helen Emily Dorsey Cooke, a bacteriologist and fellow at the Mayo Clinic. She lived in Churchville, Maryland, for 45 years before moving to North Carolina in 2021.

An amateur genealogist, her research revealed that she was a direct descendant of Edward Dorsey, who came to Maryland in 1650, and Mordecai Cooke, who settled in Gloucester County, Virginia, in the 1630s. She was the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hammond Dorsey of Elkhorn Farm in Howard County, Maryland, and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Paul Cooke of Gloucester, Virginia.

A graduate of Roland Park Country School and the College of William and Mary, Mrs. Allison taught high school English in Thermopolis, Wyoming, and at George Dewey Junior Senior High School at the U.S. Naval Station Subic Bay in the Philippines. After earning a master’s degree in library science from the University of Alabama, she served as a librarian at Palisades Junior Senior High School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Lane High School in Charlottesville, Virginia. She also worked briefly as a reference librarian at the University of Baltimore. She volunteered for almost 30 years in the library at Harford Day School in Bel Air, Maryland, and later at the Historical Society of Harford County in the Archives and the Library.

Mrs. Allison was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, an honorary education fraternity, Alpha Beta Alpha, a professional library science fraternity, and Phi Mu Social Fraternity. She held many offices in the Governor William Paca Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Harford Chapter #114, United Daughters of the Confederacy, including as president of each organization. She was also a member of the Magna Charta Dames and the Harford Chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society. A lifelong member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Towson, Maryland, for many years she attended St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Joppa, Maryland, where she served on the vestry and the Altar Guild, including as director.

An avid traveler, she visited over 50 countries on five continents during her lifetime. Since she was an Anglophile who closely followed the British royal family, her most frequent destination was England, but in later years she particularly enjoyed traveling throughout Eastern Europe.

Mrs. Allison is survived by her husband, Dr. William Don Allison, and her daughter, Anna Elise Allison, both of Greensboro, North Carolina. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, September 4 at 2 p.m. at St. Alban’s Anglican Church, 1011 Old Joppa Road, Joppa, MD 21085, with interment on Friday, September 5 at 11 a.m. at historic Christ Episcopal Church, 6800 Oakland Mills Rd., Columbia, MD 21045. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to The Historical Society of Harford County, Inc., 143 N. Main Street, Bel Air, MD 21014. The service will be livestreamed through https://www.facebook.com/saintalbansjoppa/live_videos.