Obituary: Allyson Brown aka Ally Blue

Allyson on the beach she loved.

Allyson Renee Brown died September 14th, 2022 at home, due to the devastating effects of a GBM brain tumor she was diagnosed with in April 2021. She was 58 years old.

She was born April 7, 1964 in Monroeville, Alabama to Clifford L. Allen and Glenda (Sims) Allen. She lived in Mobile, Alabama, graduated from Murphy High School in 1982 and enrolled in Auburn University, but had to leave in order to care for her mother, Glenda, who was diagnosed with a GBM brain tumor. After her mother had surgery to remove the tumor, Allyson received a full scholarship to Brevard College in Brevard, NC and enrolled there in 1983. It was there that she met Brent Brown in 1984, they would be married in December of 1985. 

She graduated Brevard College, earning an Associate’s Degree in 1985, and enrolled in UNC-Asheville, but found she could not pursue her original goal of becoming a marine biologist in the mountains of NC, and switched to earning a second Associates Degree at Asheville-Buncombe Community College instead, graduating and receiving her license as a Registered Nurse in 1988. She went to work at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC, where she worked as a floor nurse, until becoming a Case Manager in 2009 and transferring to a position the Utilization Review department at what is now Mission Health Asheville, NC. She continued to work remotely, even during her cancer treatment, until she could no longer continue in April 2022. 

She also wrote over 30 books as an author with the pen names Ally Blue, and Alyce Black. Published by Samhain Press and Riptide Publishing, among others. Many Samhain titles were republished by her personally, when Samhain was no longer in business. She was well-loved by many fellow authors and readers and attended many writer conventions over the years in many cities across the US. She enjoyed travel, but did not get to do as much as she would like, hoping to be able to travel out of the country when she retired. In the meantime, she went on some cruises to the Caribbean, and two trips to Jamaica, as well as a trip to New Zealand to visit her daughter who was working there as an au pair for a year. She never stopped missing her Gulf Coast beach, but being in the NC Mountains, she only got to visit a beloved beach one week a year: during the family traditional stay in Hilton Head Island, SC. A week that became her favorite week of the year.

She was a loving wife, and a devoted mother to her two children, who were her life’s main priority at all times from the moment she gave birth to each of them, with no pain meds. Her first child was born in 1990, the same year her mother, Glenda, became ill with a second brain tumor, which was also treated, but caused her to remain bedridden for another seven years before a third GBM brain tumor finally caused her death in 1997.

She is pre-deceased by her mother, Glenda, in 1997 and her father, Clifford, in 2021. She is survived by her husband of almost 37 years, Brent Brown of NC; her daughter Veronica Grondahl of NC; her son, Marshall Brown of NC, and her sister, Wendy Sclater of Mobile, AL.


A Celebration of Life will be held for her on October 2nd, 2022 at Mountain Ranch in Horse Shoe, NC at 3pm.

Donations may be made in her honor to the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor research.

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.