Lois Allen

Lois Rosaline Allen was born on November 12, 1925 in Long Pine, Nebraska to Clarence Edgar Conrad and Almeda Sarah Conrad. Lois passed away at the age of 92, in Wickenburg, Arizona.

Lois grew up in and graduated high school in Long Pine, NE and worked in the Post Office there for a short time before meeting and marrying Vern Kennedy. She and Vern had a son, Richard, who was born in Ainsworth. When her parents decided to make the move to Flagstaff, AZ to find work after the war, Lois and Vern followed. Vern was later killed in a logging accident, leaving Lois a widow. Lois was working near Flagstaff as a payroll clerk at the Navajo Army Depot when she met Richard (Dick) Allen. They married in Flagstaff on June 29, 1954.

Lois and Dick, and Lois' son Richard then moved to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Dick's hometown, for a brief time before moving on to Fargo, North Dakota, where she worked to put Dick through Pharmacy School. During their time living in Fargo, their first daughter, Nancy was born.

After Dick graduated pharmacy school at Fargo, they moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where Dick had his first job as a pharmacist, and Lois took care of the home. They then spent a short amount of time living in Boone, Iowa.

Lois and Dick then returned to Arizona, for a brief time in Flagstaff, and then moved to Wickenburg in 1960. Their second daughter, Lisa, was born in 1968.

Lois went to work for the Wickenburg School District in 1973, working in the library as an aide at the Maclennan elementary school. Several years later, she worked at Vulture Peak Junior High, also as a library aide, and then went on to the high school. She left the classrooms and library behind to become the payroll clerk for the school district, and that's where she was working when she retired.

Lois loved staying busy and learning new things. She signed up for an auto mechanic class that was taught at the high school in the evenings, learning to change oil, and turn wrenches. She also learned the art of cake decorating and made many beautiful cakes, including birthday cakes, and a few wedding cakes. In her later years, she took a ceramics class at a nearby community college. Her home was filled with many ceramic pieces that she'd made. She also loved to knit, and made many sweaters and beautiful knitted throws.

Lois loved to travel. She was a confidant woman and made many cross-country car trips to visit relatives in Nebraska and Kansas, among other places. She loved to ride the Amtrak train and made several journeys across the West on the rails. She and Dick, with the help of her Dad and brothers, built a small cabin near Flagstaff, to get away to during the heat of the summer. She loved visiting the Navajo Reservation and enjoyed the Native American culture.

Lois loved to ride horses. She was an avid reader and had a great love of books. She also loved music, and could play the piano beautifully, although she never learned to read music, she played by ear. Lois was a season ticket holder to the Phoenix Opera for several years, and enjoyed the ballet and symphony. She was also a writer, and had several articles published in the Nebraskaland Magazine, among others.

Lois and Dick were members of the Wickenburg Saddle Club, and the Classy Classics Car Club.

Lois is preceded in death by her parents, Clarence and Almeda Conrad, and her brothers Gene, Leonard, Guy, and Carl, and her husband of 55 years, Richard Allen. Also her daughter-in-law Helen Allen.

Lois is survived by her son Richard Allen (Omaha, NE), daughter Nancy Steele (Mark), of Phoenix AZ, and daughter Lisa Byrne (Marty) of Wickenburg. Grandchildren Gene Allen (Suzie) of Omaha NE, Neal Allen (Ruth) of Omaha NE, Andrew Gallagher, of Wittmann, AZ, and Dawson Byrne of Prescott, AZ. Great grandchildren Alexis, Dylan, Gavin, Kae, Micah, and Zivah, all of Omaha, NE. Lois made her final home in Wickenburg at My Father's Retirement Ranch, where she loved playing cards, bingo, brain games, listening to the music on Sundays, and enjoying the peace and beauty of the beautiful surroundings. There will be a small memorial service at My Father's Ranch on Tuesday April 24, at 11:00 a.m.

Her ashes will be taken home to Nebraska, to be scattered in the Niobrara River that runs by the family home where she grew up.