20th October 1935 ? 7th December 2016.

We were very much saddened and shocked at the news of the passing away of Alison a few days after experiencing a massive stroke.
It was a sad occasion attending the service of thanksgiving for the life of Alison Vickery on Thursday 15th of December at the Mosman Uniting church. The church was overflowing with well-wishers from the various facets of her life, who came to pay their tribute. There were 6 of us representing the NSW FOV. During the service, her involvement in the affairs of Vellore was acknowledged quite a few times.
Alison was introduced to FOV when she was a young girl. Her late father Jim was a good friend of late Prof. Edward Gault. As recollected by her brothers, their family was great supporters of Vellore and was involved in various fund raising activities.
After she obtained her undergraduate and post graduate degrees in microbiology at Sydney University, she went to UK and worked there for a few years.
In 1962, On her way back from England, she went to Vellore and worked for 6 months in the department of microbiology. She always carried very fond memories of the time spent in CMC. She made lots of friends with whom she kept in contact until the end. She has visited Vellore many times, since then.
When she came back to Australia, she joined Prince Alfred hospital and worked there until the time of her retirement. She also did tutoring at the University of Sydney.
According to the archives of the minutes of the Australian Vellore Board, her first attendance was at the AGM in July 1965. Since then she has been a regular attendee at the Board meetings and a member of the organisation.
She was elected as the secretary of the Board at the 1971 AGM and served in this role for 28 years. I took over from her in 1999. She then she became the secretary of the NSW FOV and held that position for 5 years, before taking over as the President in 2004. Her health prevented her from being active during the later years. After 12 years, she handed over the position to Robyn Bradley midway through this year. Thus, she has meritoriously served the Friends of Vellore for almost 51 years, holding some position or other during that time.
She has been a great friend and mentor for all of us who have been involved in the FOV movement for many years. Despite her failing health, she was still interested in the affairs of FOV. Just 2 days before she had a stroke, she rang me regarding sending a few copies of the DVDs to someone. We had a long chat about various things, including activities planned for NSW FOV in the coming year.
We were blessed that she was able to attend the last AGM in August this year at Strathfield Uniting. She was quite thrilled about the occasion because she grew up and attended the very same church in her younger days when it was the Strathfied Congregational church. She remarked that it was like coming home for her.
Her sister Marion wanted me to express on behalf of the family, their thanks for all the messages of condolence received from many of the FOV members around the country. It was also pleasing to note that the CMC Directors office as well as Director himself sent their commiserations.
We will miss Alison very much – her wisdom, her gentle manner and her passion for Vellore. We are thankful to God for her life and praise him for what she has accomplished for the good of CMC.
Stephen Aseervatham
19th December 2016