Mary Emma Allison; teacher, librarian, involved in charity

YOU DON'T often see a live cow strolling along Market Street.

But Mary Emma Allison did, and what happened next turned out to be the beginning of a cause that has benefited thousands of children all over the world.

With the cow were children garbed in the bright costumes of many countries. They paraded along the street and entered the old John Wamanaker's store.

Mary was right behind them. She had come downtown from Bridesburg, where her husband was pastor of the Bridesburg Presbyterian Church, with her children to buy coats. It was just after Halloween 1949 and winter was coming.

Mary followed the children and the cow into the department store and up to a booth operated by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Turned out the children - and the cow - were collecting money to send powdered milk to children overseas.

Inspired by the children's campaign, Mary and her husband, Clyde, decided to launch what has become a standard Halloween fund-raising routine all over the country - "Trick or Treat for UNICEF."

Mary Emma Allison, who had been a librarian and schoolteacher, died Wednesday at 93, four days from the 60th anniversary of a campaign that has raised nearly $160 million for children all over the world. She was living in Lowell, Ind.

At first, the children collected coins in milk cartons or tins. Eventually, they were given the familiar bright orange boxes for their collections.

Mary was helped in her early efforts by prominent Philadelphia community activist Gertrude Ely, who was a friend of former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

"The children, through their schools, were given containers which they carried on their ragamuffin, trick-or-treat tours of their neighborhoods," said Eleanor Roosevelt. "So, instead of the inevitable Halloween deviltry, we saw well-behaved children everywhere asking for gifts to help other children throughout the world."

Mary Emma and her husband, who died last year, had long been involved in charitable activities, including collecting clothes for children in the aftermath of World War II, when many were destitute and living in the rubble of their homelands.

She was born in New Jersey and met her husband while both were students at Wheaton College in Illinois. She worked as a teacher and later earned a master's degree from Wheaton. She worked as a librarian in a public school in Chicago for a time.

Mary is survived by a daughter, Mary Jean Thomson; a son, Monroe; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services: A memorial service for her and her husband will be held in December at Indiana's First Presbyterian Church of Crown Point.