Obituary: Alison Laing
Alison Laing
After a long battle with cancer, Alison Laing passed away peacefully on January 22, 2019 at the Elizabethtown Masonic Village in Pennsylvania. She was surrounded by loved ones.
Alison was born on September 25, 1932 in Liberty, Texas and raised in New Braunfels. She earned bachelor and master’s degrees in nuclear chemistry and a master’s degree in organizational dynamics and strategic planning at the University of Pennsylvania.
Alison and Dottie Morgan Laing were wed in 1955 and raised a son and three daughters in Wayne, Pa. They made sure their children experienced the world’s geography, cultures, and history.
Alison served honorably as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, working in intelligence and then doing nuclear research at Los Alamos National Laboratory. While there, she isolated a previously unknown isotope of aluminum.
Alison was employed by a major electronics corporation as a Senior Engineer Manager for Computer Engineering. She worked on design and installation of the ILLIAC IV, then the world’s most powerful computer. After her retirement, she and Dottie relocated to Tiverton, Rhode Island.
Alison and Dottie
Alison and Dottie were potters, specializing in redware. Alison had a lifelong interest in wine, and was a wine educator, public speaker, and judge. She served as President of the American Wine Society and was a member of at least six other wine associations. She produced many wine events.
In the 1980s, Alison was a co-founder of The Renaissance Education Association. She was a long-time board member and for two years Executive Director of the International Foundation for Gender Education, and a long-time board member and for a number of years Director of the long-running transgender conference Fantasia Fair. Alison was involved with the Congress of Transgender Organizations, GenderPAC, Transgender Alliance for Community, Trans Events, and assorted other transgender organizations and events. Dottie supported Alison’s activities in the transgender community, and often worked alongside her.
Alison was the author of the 1989 book Speaking As a Woman, available for many years, but now out of print and selling for high prices.
Alison was a bridge-builder, working hard and with considerable success to bring the different factions of the then-forming transgender community together. She was always pleasant, always helpful, and always had a smile on her face.
Alison is survived by her children and their spouses, four grandchildren, and extended family members. Her wife Dottie passed away on September 5, 2009.
Photos of Alison and many photos taken by her are available for view at the Digital Transgender Archive; just search for her by name at https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/.
There will be a memorial for Alison and Dottie during Fantasia Fair week in Provincetown, Massachusetts, October 20-27, 2019. Attendance is open to all. For information, send email to [email protected] and mention Fantasia Fair.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Alison’s name to Fantasia Fair, which was dear to her heart.
Fantasia Fair
P.O. Box 293
East Bridgewater, MA 02333
Read Dallas’ Remembrance of Alison.
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Category: Obituary, Transgender History
About the Author (Author Profile)
Dallas Denny’s contributions to transgender activism, knowledge, and history are legendary and span four decades. She was the first voice thousands of desperate transpeople heard when they reached out for help, and she provided the information and referrals they so desperately needed. She is a prolific writer. Her books, booklets, magazines she has edited, and articles fill an entire bookcase and are in danger of spilling over into a second bookcase. She has created and led several national nonprofit organizations, been present at the creation of at least five transgender conferences, and led two long-lived support groups, She created the first trans-exclusive archive of printed and recorded literature, which today is available to the public at Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan. She has been a fierce advocate for transgender autonomy and access to medical care. Through it all, she has stayed on task, and made it all about the task at hand rather than about herself. Now, in her mid-seventies, she maintains the same frenetic pace she has kept up since the 1980s. Dallas’ work is viewable in its entirety on her website.Subscribe
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