By Madeline Condor | Staff Writer
Baylor Law alumnus Allison Dickson, JD ’07, died on Oct. 18 — leaving behind a legacy for students, lawyers and the world to come.
“Allison was born in Temple on September 18, 1979, to Joe and Johnnie Dickson. She was diagnosed with Werdnig-Hoffman Muscular Dystrophy when she was 15 months old and was given only a year to live. Despite her physical limitations, she defied the odds and lived life fully and with purpose,” a Baylor Law statement said.
Allison attended Temple High School, where she graduated third in her class, before attending Southwestern University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 2002. She then attended Baylor Law, where she graduated first in her class with her Juris Doctor degree in 2007. That same year, she was sworn into the State Bar of Texas and began working as a legal research assistant for Baylor Law, a role she would hold for seven years, Baylor Law said.
In February 2014, Allison went into septic shock and respiratory failure. Her doctors said that she would never be able to eat or drink, breathe or speak on her own accord and would never be able to return home from her stay. In a miraculous feat, Allison returned home after a five-month hospital stay.
After her bout of illness in 2014, Allison founded scholarships for students attending her alma maters, Temple High School, Southwestern University and Baylor Law. Allison was a philanthropist at heart and founded many other efforts to better her community. In recognition of her philanthropic efforts, she was named the Young Baylor Lawyer of the Year in 2017.
In 2022, Allison joined the Patterson Law Group, a personal injury law firm.
Travis Patterson, an attorney and co-worker of Allison, said Allison was an inspiring, creative and positive person with a powerful presence in the legal community.
“Until the very end, she never stopped fighting, she never had a bad attitude … She might have had bad days, but she didn’t let that affect her outwardly, she stayed positive. She stayed strong through all of it, through the hardest of circumstances that none of us can really possibly imagine … But it never changed the mission that she was on to help other people, which is just amazing,” Patterson said.
Patterson Law Group will be installing a sign “all over the office” displaying Allison’s message of “I don’t need easy, I just need possible,” Patterson said.
Southwestern University student and Tri Delta president Madeline Bollinger said that the Allison Dickson Delta Delta Delta Scholarship is deeply important to the Tri Delta chapter, even if every girl does not receive the scholarship.
“Our chapter is so fortunate to be small enough that we’re all close-knit, and so we’ll know a girl that has a friend that receives a scholarship, and that gives that sister the ability to not only stay in Tri Delta but [also] to be able to be an active member in our community as well,” Bollinger said. “We’ve had girls who stayed in Tri Delt because they received the scholarship due to financial difficulties … So it personally means a lot to me as a president that Allison was able to do that and set that up for girls to be able to stay and Tri Delta and not have to worry about finances and be able to be good students as well on campus.”
The chapter uses Allison’s motto, “I don’t need easy, I just need possible,” in everyday life, Bollinger said.
“A lot of our girls overcome difficulties in college, whether it be financial or social. This is a big life transition, and a lot of our girls are even in sports and a lot of different organizations on campus. There are stressful times, you know, and I often think about that motto that Allison goes by,” Bollinger said.
“She could … make you smile and make you laugh, and I think she [knew] that maybe sometimes that’s all you need — somebody to be there to make you smile, make you laugh — and so it’s not just the resiliency and the strength [of Allison], but it’s also the pure joy that she shared with the world and the light that she was,” Patterson said.
