Allston Allison Kitchens

On March 8, 2023, Allston Allison Kitchens passed away after almost four, full joyful years since her diagnosis of metastatic recurrent endometrial cancer. Her funeral service will be held Thursday, March 16, 2023 in St. Michael's Anglican Church, 71 Broad Street at 2:00 p.m. Burial will be Saturday, March 18, 2023 in Prince George Winyah Cemetery, Georgetown, SC at 1:00 p.m. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel. 

Allston was born on March 17, 1958 in Sewanee, TN to C. FitzSimons and Martha Allison. She graduated form MUSC in 1989 and practiced medicine in Charleston for thirty years. In 1991, she married Greg Kitchens. They were blessed with two daughters, Elizabeth Allston in 1994 and Ellen Bargeron in 1996.
   
As a child, Allston enjoyed romping around the woods of Sewanee with her brothers. The Allisons moved to Alexandria, VA, where she survived her teenage years. She attended St. Andrews in Delaware for her last two years of high school, where she learned effective study habits, despite herself. In 1980 she graduated magna cum laude in English from Union College in Schenectady, NY. 

From 1981-1983, Allston loved serving in the Peace Corps in Thailand. Returning to the U.S., she wandered into medical school and found her life’s vocation. Allston also unexpectedly found her life’s love in a devoted Marine Corps officer. In marriage, they combined their different gifts to service and made an uncommon and rich union for over 31 years. They lived a full life in addition to their work, traveling, camping, canoeing, shooting and raising two lively and loving daughters.

After residency in Internal Medicine, Allston worked as an Attending at Charleston County Hospital, caring for the medically underserved for three years. She then worked at the VA Hospital serving veterans in primary care for seven years. In 2022, Dr. Kitchens and two fellow physicians from the VA went into private practice and opened Tidewater Internal Medicine, where she worked until retirement. Her memory is dear to the hearts of the many patients and staff she worked with over the years. She was an excellent, compassionate and faithful physician without bounds, pouring her heart and life into her work as long as she could. 

God blessed Allston with several years of retirement which she was able to spend with her family, working on family property under the guidance of her brother, learning to garden with her mother and generally enjoying each day in the love of her family. Her daughters have brought her much joy and pride in their service paths of teaching and occupational therapy.

Allston was grateful for her church families, St. Michael’s in Charleston and Prince George Winyah in Georgetown, SC. 

As she let go of her career and was less able to do the things she loved to do physically, Allston increasingly embraced and rejoiced in her relationship with the Lord, realizing her identity as a child of God through Christ.

She is survived by her parents, The Right Reverend C. FitzSimons and Martha Allison; her brothers: Christopher, James (Milette), and John (Courtney); her husband, Col. Gregory Kitchens; her daughters: Elizabeth and Ellen, and a wonderful flock of nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her dear sister-in-law, Helen Allison.

Memorials may be made to Doctors Without Borders USA, PO Box 5023, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5023 or to St. Michael's Anglican Church, 71 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401.