At 10 years old, the little girl has been described as an outgoing youngster, one who watched over children smaller than herself, just like a mother would do. She liked dolls, but she really liked animals.

She didn't have a job like grown-ups do. No store was hers, nor had she won the lottery. But she'd always find ways to have a little bit of money so she could give something to others. Ally liked that, giving to others.

Friends and relatives smile at how Ally collected loose change from her grandfather's vehicle after he'd made his rounds as a rural mail carrier. Nickels, dimes, pennies that had dropped into the floorboard -- she'd dig them out, even the ones that fell under the seat.

"She always wanted to buy for other children, and she was always doing little things for everyone to let them know that she loved them," said Ally's mother, Kristie Garrick.

At Ally's school, Bowman Academy, Ally would ask the school staff to have those loose coins changed into dollars.

"We haven't rolled those yet," school secretary Heather Limehouse said, pointing at a pile of change on a counter in the school office. "We just can't bring ourselves to roll it."

The coins sit on the counter, just where Ally left them. Some quarters, some dimes, some pennies. They lay just where a child's small hand opened to share the treasures of her heart.

But Ally doesn't bring quarters and nickels and dimes to the school office any more. She doesn't play mommy to smaller children, nor does she play with her dolls any longer.

On Feb. 24, Ally was involved in an accident. An ATV rolled over. And God gave her a new job. He wanted her to play mommy to the smaller angels in heaven.

"I knew her since she first started school," Bowman Academy librarian Francis Metts said. "It was just hard, she was here and suddenly she's not here."

She was born Allyson Morgan Ayers on Oct. 9, 1996. Her friends and family just called her "Ally." Before she became God's angel, she was a fourth-grader at Bowman Academy.

The news went through the Bowman community quickly. The school, a close-knit student body of 130, was shocked.

"We were at a basketball game," says 11th-grader Wesley Collier. "I remember all of us went outside. We had a little meeting and we prayed."

But for Collier, the loss was especially difficult. He was like an older brother to the little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. Ally's two brothers, Tommy and Tyler, were his best friends. Collier said he felt as if he'd lost a sibling himself.

Compelled by such a close loss, Collier started a fundraiser to create a lasting memorial to the child, whose teachers describe her as "a little sunshine."

"Wesley has always been a big brother to her," family friend Robin Shuler said of her son. "She was very close to her older brother, and they would play together."

The idea started out as a drive to pay for a simple plaque. But the community businesses, residents and students donated more than enough to pay for a plaque.

In fact, several hundred dollars were raised in a short while. With money left over, the idea for a memorial garden on the school campus took shape.

A Bowman Academy graduate, a landscaper and a basketball coach at the school, Donnie Knight volunteered his services to create the garden of roses, cherry trees and day lilies.

"It's the meaning of the thing," Knight said. "It's for the kids."

The 2007 senior class, which would normally raise money through the year for their prom and class trip, donated those funds to the memorial garden.

"This year, they're using their money for benches to go in the memorial garden," Metts said.

Sadly, someone entered the school grounds recently and removed seven of the rose plants. A few days later, four more were dug up.

Those who knew her said the little outgoing Ally would probably have given the roses to the person who took them.

"She was just special," Limehouse said.

With the roses replaced, the memorial garden is nearing completion. A dedication service will coincide with the graduation commencement on May 24.

Still, there were leftover funds from the generosity of the community. Not much, but enough to perhaps purchase a few new books for the library.

There will soon be a corner of the school library that will be set apart for books on animals, on mommies, on learning and giving. It's to be called "Ally's Corner."

"She was an angel on earth," Ally's grandmother, Linda Felkel, said. "Now, she's an angel in Heaven."

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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