Knollis Roy Allison was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 29 March 1959 to the proud parents of Salma Williams and Wilbert William Allison. He was the second child of the six children they would have together. Knollis grew up in Burnt Savannah; reared by his grandparents, Charles and Ethel Williams, in the Parish of Westmoreland and attended Mount Grace High School before returning to Kingston as a teenager to live with his father at 13 Campbell Street; and where he apprenticed as a welder.
In 1979, at the age of 20, Knollis migrated to the United States and began his career as a welding contractor. Eager to increase his knowledge of general contracting, Knollis learned plumbing from his brother Hugh Allison.
In 1982 Knollis married Shirley Rogers and became the proud father of daughter Annie Shirley Allison. Shortly after, this marriage dissolved. And, on April 18, 1985 Knollis married his soul mate, Maiselyn (Peaches) Thompson, the woman he’d spend the rest of his life with. To this union Knollis and Peaches produced two sons, Kadeem Knollis and Keenen Charles; in addition to raising his stepson, Kevin Edwards. In 1994 Knollis purchased a home and moved his family to Pennsylvania. Knollis built his house with love and laughter.
Knollis was very handy and good at fixing things…anything. He fixed cars, pipes and plumbing. He single handedly built the deck on his home and he reconstructed buildings alongside his uncles and brother, Hugh. If a thing needed to be done, Knollis could do it. He even planted and cultivated his very own garden, from which he proudly harvested squash, zucchini and big round juicy tomatoes. One of the things that Knollis loved more than anything else was watching things grow and the other was listening to Brother Hugh’s songs.
Knollis stepped into eternity on November 18, leaving behind his wife Peaches, to whom he was married twenty-four years; his four children, Annie, KaDeem, Keenen and Kevin; Grandchildren Keyshia, Keyondre, Kymani and Jeffery Jr.And his siblings, Velma Wizzard, Hugh Allison, Ingrid Morris, June Thompson, Maxine Ward, Joseph Allison, William Wilbert Allison, Theresa Allison, Craig Allison, Althea Allison; and a host of in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles and a host of loved ones and friends. Knollis was preceded in death by his parents.