Kathleen Allaker, known to friends as Kathy, Kat, and Queen, most recently residing in Lansdale, PA, USA, died peacefully on November 11, 2024, at 83 years of age.
Kathy was born December 1, 1940, to Norman and Mary (nee Kell) Allaker in Sedgefield in the County of Durham, England.
She grew up in the village of Chilton with her brother John (now deceased), developing a strong sense of adventure and self-assuredness that propelled her as a young adult to travel to Milan, Italy to work as an au pair. In 1964, in exchange for passage to the U.S. via the Queen Mary, she contracted to work as a domestic for a year.
After completing her contract, she went to work for Prudential Insurance in Newark, NJ. In 1969, she transferred with Prudential to PA when Prudential opened a new home office there. She retired from there in 1998; and in 2001, she settled in Maine where she led an active life doing the things she loved (e.g. photography, hiking with her dogs Billy and Jeter and gardening) and doing new things like kayaking and line dancing.
Surviving Kathy in England are niece Julie and nephews Richard, Phillip and Craig and great nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death are her mother, Mary; her father, Norman; her brother, John; and her niece, Susan.
Donations in her memory may be made to:
St. Judes Research Hospital for Children
501 St. Judes Pl
Memphis , TN 38105
Shriners Hospital for Children
Box 31356
Tampa, FL 33631
Mid Coast Humane Society
190 Pleasant St.
Brunswick, Maine 04011
Bucks County SPCA
1665 Street Rd.
New Hope, PA. 18938
I’ve known kathy all my adolescent and adult life I loved her wit and how she would pick on my sister in fun she took gorgeous pictures when I would visit with her she always knew me mabe because I had goodies for her
We had long john silvers together watching either law and order or Chicago pd she liked Hank 👍 she will be sadly missed by our family and her many friends
Fly high with the angels my dear friend 💙
Aunty Kath was an adventurer. I remember being very young when she left to go to the states there was lots of excitement but lots of tears too.
As a teenager she had a dog called Kim a springer spaniel, who she would dress up in hats and scarfs and red lipstick.
She would sneak out at night as she got a little older to the local dances in the surrounding towns and villages. One night it snowed so heavily she had to walk home through deep snow boy she was in trouble that night.
When she started work and earning money my nan would try and borrow it, Aunty Kath told me she would hide it up the chimney behind an old brick. She would come home to her drawers open where her Mum had been searching.
Our local area has beautiful countryside, castles, moorland, woods, and rivers. Aunty Kath love to go camping and potholing she went with her brother John (My Dad) and his friends. Potholing is quite a dangerous thing to do yet she was not scared of anything. Although she would not come up the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory in Maine. It was the first time I realised she was scared of heights. She hated lobsters and would spend the whole time moaning when her best friend Agnes had them for tea.
Wherever Aunty Kath was in the world she kept in touch with her family. She was a prolific letter writer, and we always looked forward to hearing about her adventures. I have kept all the letters she wrote to me and then the 100s of emails that we share, I have been reading them, it has brought back so many happy memories.
Our mother died leaving behind 5 small children and we were brought up by our grandparents. Aunty Kath would send parcels to England for us filled with treasures. It was always an exciting time as we unpacked books, toys, clothes, and comics.
I loved visiting her in Maine, where we visited so many beaches, islands and forests. There was nothing she loved more than going hiking. With her trail mix and flask, we would go for miles as we shared a love of nature.
No dog could replace Billy he was the love of her life he would always lay next to me on the sofa Aunty Kath thought he was sensing how sad I felt after loosing my soul mate. Our next great adventure was to go on a tall ship. Sadly we never got the opportunity as her dementia took over her life.
Maine was the perfect place for Aunty Kath I understand totally why she fell in love with the place. The colours of the trees and the reflections in the water.
We realised we had the same sense of humour when she stayed with me in England. Anything would set us off laughing.
Our plan was to go on a tall ship. Sadly we never got the opportunity. When I visited her after my partner died she shared she had given her heart to a native American and she often wondered what could have been.
Aunty Kath you will always have a special place in my heart, one day we will meet again.
Aunty Kath will be sorely missed by us all
Julie Ginns nee Allaker
This comment is submitted by Kathy Walker:
I’ve known Kathy for close to 60 years. For most of that time we were good friends. I admired her. She was a strong, independent woman. She had an easy going manner that attracted people to her orbit; but when time and circumstance demanded it, she was fearless.
Kathy loved life. She enjoyed physical activity and was not afraid to try new things. A really good swimmer, she water skied and scuba dived. A natural athlete, she enjoyed downhill skiing, kayaking and hiking. She hiked part of the Appalachian trail. She even played a decent right field with a cigarette in her mouth and no glove.
More quiet activities included photography, line dancing with friends, gardening, and walking with her dogs Billy and Jeter. She had an eye for taking interesting and compelling photos that drew in a person’s attention.
When Kathy was relaxing, you could find her reading a good book with a glass of wine nearby, and good music playing in the background.
When she was happy and smiled, her blue eyes sparkled and seemed to become bluer. This was especially noticeable just after she had executed one of her “schemes” toward a targeted friend. Example: the time she told me my car had vents to let outside air in. This was when air conditioning in cars eliminated the need for those small triangular windows in the front seating area of car. I of course said she was wrong. The matter lay stagnant until one night a year later. I was picking her up. She was late getting to the car. I used the time crawling under the front dashboard looking for air vents that I knew were not there. When Kathy got in the car, I triumphantly told her I had just looked and there were no vents. She just looked at me and laughing said: “I knew you would look. It just took longer than I expected.”
Despite these kind of jokes, Kathy was always there when I needed her. I will always miss her.
Kathy W