McAllister was born February 18, 1918, to Rosa Wilson and Reece W. Scott in Madisonville, Texas; Edith had one older sister named Lucille.
Her father had plans to develop the Hot Wells Hotel and Spa which was unsuccessful due to the Great Depression.
She died July 1, 2018, in her home in Terrell Hills San Antonio, Texas of congestive heart failure at the age of 100.
[5] McAllister herself would say that she became bored with “sitting around playing cards”,[2] and first began volunteering with the San Antonio Junior League.
She served as a Girl Scout leader, president of the Alamo Heights Junior School PTA, and Mistress of the Robes for the Fiesta coronation of 1965.
She served as co-chairmen of the development committee for the University of Texas at San Antonio for thirteen years to help improve demographics.
She was the first woman to hold this position and while campaign chair she helped raise $3.7 million for San Antonio and Bexar County.