Benjamin Allison, 20 of Crystal Lake, passed away on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 in Normal, Illinois from injuries received in an automobile-pedestrian accident.
He was born July 26, 1994 in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Timothy E. and Melissa A. (Smith) Allison. He took an active interest in hockey at age 3, and at age 4 started playing hockey in Birmingham, Michigan. In 2005 the family moved to Crystal Lake where he started the sixth grade. Ben played hockey for the Barrington Red Wings a year, then the Crystal Lake Leafs until entering high school. At Crystal Lake South High School he was a member of the hockey team, graduating in 2012. Following high school he followed his passion and played for the Dells Ducks. In 2013 he attended McHenry County Community College and became an assistant hockey coach at Crystal Lake South. In the fall of 2014 he enrolled at Illinois State University in Normal, majoring in broadcast communications. He applied for and was chosen to be a radio personality at the University and had recently been promoted to assistant director for the traffic department at WZND Radio. Ben had also taken an interest in refereeing hockey over the years beginning at age 12 and had been chosen to be a member of the USA Hockey Development Program. Ben was very athletic, enjoyed his family, friends and hedgehogs, as well as his X-Box.
He is survived by parents, Tim & Melissa Allison of Crystal Lake, his grandparents, Steve (Maureen) Smith of Clawson, Michigan & Fred M. Allison of Grand Blanc, Michigan, several aunts & uncles, many cousins and his loving girlfriend, Melissa Warder.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, January 31st from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the Funeral Service at 1:00 p.m. all at Willow Creek Community Church, 67 E. Algonquin Road, South Barrington. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Ben Allison’s Legacy directed for hockey scholarships.
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Fred I can only offer this. An Old Irish Blessing May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand
Thinking of you and your family in your time of sorrow. I am praying for you to have strength at this time. You have our deepest sympathies.
Although I do not know you and did not know your son, I wanted you all to know my thoughts and prayers are with you. I listened to the DJs on one of the Bloomington stations talk about what a nice young man your son was. May your memories get you through.
We have heard and read about Benjamin on radio, tv and newspaper. We know none of the family but we will be praying for you for your lose. We lost a son about 2 months ago and know it causes great grief. We have called on the name of Jesus many times to help through our grief. That seems to be a big help and pray you can do the same to help you. You have our deepest sympathy.
Although I do not know you or your son I live in Normal and my family lives in Crystal Lake. l have a 13 year old grandson that loves hockey more than anything else and is on a travel team and will enter high school next year. I could only hope he is half the young man your son was. My prayers will be with you for a long time to come and may God's love cover you and strengthen you in the days to come.