Obituary of Kellie F. Alleman

Kellie Krauss Alleman

Age 57, passed away on Monday, January 8, 2024, After a courageous battle with lung cancer. (if you needed a sign in order to quit smoking cigarettes, insert blinking marquee here) Kellie was pre-deceased by her “Soul Brother” Dan “Taz” Courtney. She left behind a loving husband of 38 years Alan Bren Alleman; mother Rosalie Dilmore Krauss of Elmira;  first daughter Catherine “Kayte” Storm Alleman of Millport with her children,  Nyiah Danielle and Jayce Michael Rodriguez;  youngest daughter Emily Briez Alleman of Millport with her sons, Camden Craig and Zaiden Bren Mable;  2 sisters, Lisa Krauss-White of Hickory NC,  and her biggest supporter her little sister Karen Gordon, whose love and generosity knows no bounds, along with her husband Randy, a beloved brother long before Karen made it official; her other brothers, Scott Krauss of Virginia, Kenneth Krauss of Elmira; Karl Krauss (Komal) of Endicott NY; her recent hero, her little brother, Kent “Archie” Krauss of Elmira, who stepped in and stepped up in a big way during Kellie’s recent illness to really make a difference.  And then there is her “wifey” Cora Pratt Kohan of Elmira; her partner in crime and head of their coven; Ann Finch and her husband Lonnie of Elmira; Kellie’s ‘Brother from Another Mother’ and sister, Jeff and Alexis Hague of Millport; special friend and daily confidant, sister-in-law Diane “Sunshine” (Bill) Alleman of St. Petersburg FL.   Also surviving are several other in-laws; Richard Bret Alleman of Ithaca, NY; George ‘Ben’ (Lynette) Alleman of Robertsdale Al; Brenda (James) McFadden of Tooele, Utah; Becky Alleman Jones of Robertsdale Al.; Bethany Meaux of Midvale, Utah. Kellie had a very special relationship with her mother-in-law Barbara ‘G-Ma’ Alleman of Robertsdale Al. Kellie had dozens of nieces and nephews many of whom had a special place in her heart and home over the years. 

 Kellie was born and raised in Elmira.  At first, the Near Westside where on the corner of 1^st and Davis, and a couple of other places within a few blocks north of the river, she played through the backyards and shopped in the penny candy store on the corner. She attended Hendy Ave. Elementary, and stayed out until the streetlights came on. Some from that group of friends that said goodnight and slipped into the back doors and gentle shadows on those nights, are still her friends today. These were only the first of many lifelong friendships that can only come in a modern world of social media interposed like a kaleidoscope on a life both before and after Agnes, the flood of ’72,  in the Elmira of the 70’s and 80’s,  that seems a world apart from the Elmira of today. Then on the Southside in her early teens: Ernie Davis and the new Southside High School, where she made a valiant effort. Sort of…                           

But through early childhood trauma, she found another group of friends, her GH family. These kids, who were sometimes called ‘The Glovers” were thrown together, sometimes thrown away together, and they have made it through their shared experiences with a bond that lasted her a lifetime. She was proud to call them family. Emancipated and on her own at 15 years old, Kellie supported herself and developed a work ethic that lasted her a lifetime. She could out- clean, out-work, and out-boss almost anyone she worked with. Her almost 15 years at Light’s Coffee Shop in downtown Elmira defined her early work life. The friendships and relationships she made with her “Light’s Family” continued long after she left to help run the family business, Another Man’s Treasure, in Elmira and Ithaca, and manage the ‘business of family’ as her kids were growing up in the countryside outside of Pine Valley, where her family originally laid down roots generations ago in the 1700’s. The small house and piece of land that she and her husband Bren bought in 1987, after being married in the spring of 1986, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints In Horseheads. was where she has lived ever since. The country and the birds and the butterflies,  suited her, and soon she was a self-identified ‘country girl’  almost dreading those inevitable trips into ‘The City” that Elmira had become. But through it all, her heart remained with those families of friends that were so close by, yet so far away. Kellie would identify as a homebody, that really didn’t like people very much. You would never know by the number of people who liked her. Or the number of people she loved, and called family.

   Kellie’s biggest joys in life were helping raise her grandkids as her own kids, and weekend adventures to abandoned and faraway places where only 4x4’s could get to. Her friend Ann (aforementioned “head witch of their {own little} Coven [of 2]) always by her side, while Bren and Lonnie alternated driving and navigating, like a budget indy ‘driving miss (drunk) dais(ies), usually the point being the trip, more than the destination. She had finally arrived at that place in life where the little joys outmatched the daily struggles. Where her biggest challenges became what to feed the tribe for dinner, or where we headed for our next adventure. Kellie was able to find her piece of happiness, as much as her past would allow. She loved her little piece of the mountain, as if she were drawn to it from generations past. In the last 35 years, she has become a part of it. And for the next 100 years the birds and the butterflies will carry her memories from the plants and the trees that will spring from the dust to which she has returned, and her love for those she called family, will live longer than us all…

Family and friends are invited to McInerny Funeral Home, 502 W Water Street, Elmira, on Saturday, January 20, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.  The Celebration of Kellie’s life will continue at the Southport Volunteer Fire Department, 1001 Carl Street, Elmira from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  Those wishing may remember Kellie with a donation to Falck Cancer Center, 600 Roe Avenue, Elmira NY 14905.