August 3, 1922 – July 29, 2009 WHITESBORO â?? A memorial service for Mary Ann (Roberts) Allen, 86, will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009 at the First Presbyterian Church in Whitesboro with Rev. Judith Reedy and Rev. Richard Nourse officiating. A private graveside service for family and close friends will precede the service at 4 p.m. in Oakwood Cemetery in Whitesboro. Services are under the direction of Meador Funeral Home in Whitesboro. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday, July 31, 2009 at the funeral home.
Mary Ann passed away on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at the Whitesboro Health & Rehab Center.
Mary Ann was born Aug. 3, 1922 in Wichita Falls, Texas, the only child of John Emmett and Alice (Eldredge) Roberts. She attended elementary schools in Wichita Falls and Pampa before moving to Whitesboro in 1934. She graduated from Whitesboro High School in 1939 with honors. She attended the University of Texas in Austin and received a B.A. degree from Texas Womanâ??s University in Denton where she did graduate study with a reading specialization. She married Elry T. â??Mikeâ? Allen on March 3, 1946 at the Little Chapel in the Woods in Denton. After fifteen years of teaching experience — the last eight in Whitesboro Junior High School, she retired in 1978.
Mary Ann was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Whitesboro and was long active in the Whitesboro Presbyterian Womenâ??s Organization, serving in various capacities — including secretary, president, vice-president and White Cross Sewing Chairman. She was also a Sunday school teacher of junior high students for several years. She was a troop leader of Girl Scouts for eight years — serving as neighborhood chairman and board member of Cross Timbers Council. Mary Ann was also a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood and was past president of Chapter A.
Survivors include a son, Michael D. Allen and wife, Carol of Tyler, a daughter, Marcy Allen Brown and husband, Jon of Rockwall; 4 grandchildren, Leigh Brown Staggs of Greenville, Lindsay Allen of Dallas, Ben Brown of Dallas, and Carly Allen Martin and husband, Blake of Dallas; a great-grandson, Maxwell Allen Staggs; a sister-in-law, Lucile Allen Head of Whitesboro; 2 nieces, Judith Reedy of Frisco and Sally Light of Collinsville; and several great-nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Alice Roberts, and her husband, Elry T. â??Mikeâ? Allen, Jr.
The family sends a special thanks to: â??Sweet Home Companionsâ? â?? Cathy and Jean Smith of Collinsville, special family friend Sue Hanning of Denison, Ruthie Pearson of Whitesboro, Maureen Campbell of Sherman, Helen Henderson of Oklahoma, and Dorothy Slaten, Janet Autry and Jane Dutton of Whitesboro.
Memorial Contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church Kitchen Project, P.O. Box 26, Whitesboro, TX 76273.