MARY ANN ALLEN passed away of natural causes in her home on November 3, 2024, age 94. Mary Ann was born to Oliver Ashley and Neva Wimer in Grants Pass, Oregon on October 21, 1930. Her childhood was marred by an accidental drowning of her older brother, Donald, age 10, and the subsequent death of an infant sister. Her hardworking and well-liked parents endured these tragedies as well as the Great Depression and World War II, however, owning a Union 76 Service Station and Battery Shop. During the leanest times, they lived in an apartment configured from the back of the station, and Mary Ann helped out.
Following high school graduation, she enrolled in Secretarial School in Portland, Oregon, staying at the Martha Washington, a boarding house for “ladies,” where men were not permitted upstairs. She soon met and fell in love with a newly signed Marine on a blind double date. William “Bill” Allen was the love of her life for 71 years until his death in 2021. They were married shortly after meeting in Reno, Nevada, 1950. Her parents drove them there under threat of elopement, as Bill was heading to North Carolina for Cook’s Training before heading to Korea. Bill and Mary Ann had no car and took the train on their honeymoon, first to Bill’s family in California, and eventually east, through New Orleans. That trip may well have launched their lifelong “travel bug.”
Mary Ann was a stoic and loyal military wife, moving often while mothering their two children, Linda (Zaccheo), born 1953, and Donald, born 1954. Bill served 20 years in the Marine Corps, with tours in bitter cold Korea and the jungles of Vietnam, wounded in the latter.
When he left the service, relatively young, they moved as he took jobs in Lewiston and Boise, Idaho. Bill had been a recruiter in Boise in the early 60’s, and they set a goal to someday live there permanently. They achieved that in 1974 and at last settled in their home of 50 years. This staying put was interrupted by plenty of excursions via RV’s and cruise ships. After both had retired from their State jobs, they were active in the Good Sam Tumbleweeds group, snowbirded to Arizona, and visited all 50 state capitals.
Mary Ann is survived by her children, Linda and Don, and her grandsons, Nicholas and Anthony Zaccheo. She leaves a legacy of memories and admiration for her strength and perseverance. Memorials may be made to The Marine Corps League.