Jane Allen

After a life filled with family, friends, travel, and gaiety, Jane Allen, 89, passed away at noon on Sunday, January 5 in the company of her daughter, Clare. Jane was an only child, born at a British Army base in Singapore. When she was two, her family moved back to live in northern Scotland, then southern England. She eventually went to nursing school at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing. After several years nursing in London, her wandering feet took her to Canada, via Montreal and Vancouver, ending up in San Francisco. She enjoyed learning some of the languages in those countries and integrated as much as she could into the culture of the area in which she lived. While working there as a nurse, she met her husband, Bill, at a gathering of the English Speaking Union. They were married in 1958 and had three children, Louise, Mark, and Clare. Jane was the organizer of the household. The family lived in Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Los Angeles, Colorado, Boston, and Easton, MD. Each vacation, relocation, and most other major events were skillfully planned by her with maximum efficiency, directing family and laborers in the proper way of getting things done. She took the family to explore many wonderful places and people in all parts of the world, providing new learning experiences. She was most passionate about her family: husband, children, and grandchildren. She participated with them as much as possible, traveling to see her grandchildren as often as she could. It was also important to her to give back to the community, and she volunteered in Boston, delivering meals on Christmas Day to the homebound, peeling potatoes at Rosie’s place, maintaining the church garden for years, as well as raking leaves at Hospice in Easton. She donated regularly to the Brighter Christmas Fund of the Star Democrat, looking daily for her signature “a Nightingale” in the list of donors. Jane is survived by her three children and eight grandchildren, Louise, Jeff, Zoe, Helen, and Sophie in Fairfax, VA; Mark, Laura, Breanna, and Kelsey in Denver, CO; and Clare, Brad, Cayley, Natalie, and Will in Easton, MD. Services will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2020, at 10 AM at Trinity Cathedral in Easton. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Huntington’s Disease Society of America or Fisher House Foundation (helping families of wounded service members).

Jane Allen

November 16, 1930 - January 5, 2020