She was born March 17, 1952, to John and Elizabeth (Hall) Howard of Whittier, Calif. After graduating from Whittier area schools, she moved to San Francisco where she worked at the renowned Fairmont Hotel, before loading her VW bug and relocating to Boston.
Again she found employment in the hotel industry both in Boston and on Cape Cod, eventually ending up at the Woodstock Inn where she met her future husband, Dick Tracy, Jr. They married June 5, 1982. At the Inn, she became its first ever computer operator. In 1984 she and Dick moved to Arizona to help open a new resort, The Boulders, in Carefree. While there she was promoted to the role of assistant controller. Upon return to Vermont in 1988, Alison worked 17 years a property management firm, and later helped her husband start their own real estate appraisal business. She also worked part time as a bookkeeper for the Hotel Coolidge. Whatever the job she established herself as reliable, detail-oriented, and determined to produce good work.
Alison was even more dedicated as a wife, mother and grandma. She was an avid reader who loved traveling and researching her family tree. She took great pleasure in creating things such as the family favorite chocolate almond torte, her flower gardens, or her children’s Halloween costumes. Mostly she loved her family, her pets and her plants.
Alison will be remembered for her gentle spirit, and how she made everything she touched a little better than she found it. Jeanette Aboonour, her dearest friend from high school, once referred to Alison as the most “unfailingly kind” person she had ever known.
Alison is survived by her husband; her three daughters, Moira Alison Cuthbert of Laconia, N.H., Shauna Ruth Armiento of Hollis, Maine, and Meghan Kathleen Tracy, of Sharon; two older brothers, Douglas and Alan Howard, of Walnut Creek and Orange, Calif.; three grandchildren, Damian Howard Tracy, Joseph Cuthbert, and Aubrey Armiento.
Per her wishes, no memorial service is planned. She will be laid to rest in Pine Hill Cemetery in Sharon, a place where she took many a stroll with her family.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Sharon Volunteer Fire Association or to the South Royalton Fast Squad. Members of each helped Alison and her family several times during her prolonged illness.