Lois Estelle Allen

Oct. 20, 1921 - Nov. 14, 2008

GOLDEN, Colo. -- Lois Estelle Allen, 87, died Friday (Nov. 14, 2008) in a retirement community apartment after a very short illness in Golden, Colo. She will be missed and will always be remembered and loved.

Lois grew up in McCook, the daughter of Harold and Gladys Sutton and the oldest sister to Harvey and Suzanne.

She attended music school at Northwestern in Chicago, Ill., where she earned her teaching certificate and met Wayne Allen. They were married during World War II while Wayne served in the Navy as a pilot in the South Pacific.

When he completed his tour of duty they settled in McCook and later moved to Gothenburg, where they raised their three children.

In 1956, they moved to Georgetown, Colo. Lois taught school and was an at-home Mom. They moved again to Gothenburg where she worked for the school system and then back to Colorado in the 1960s. She was the only social services worker for two Colorado counties.

In 1973, they sold their house in Colorado and went on the road in a new RV, traveling to Mexico in the winter and Arizona in the summer. She loved the culture of Mexico and the people.

She was an avid shell collector and enjoyed learning Spanish from the natives. They put down roots in Payson, Ariz., where they had a home and she and Wayne just enjoyed each others company until his death in 1998.

Her two older children, Suzanne Forsythe and Christopher Allen also preceded her in death in 2005 and 2006 and her surviving daughter brought her to Colorado to be closer to family in the fall of 2008.

Survivors include her daughter, Barbara Allen of Georgetown; son-in-law, Larry Forsythe of Payson, Ariz.; the Sutton and Boekel nieces and nephew of Nebraska and Denver and Grand Junction, Colo.; and numerous friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions maybe made to Mount Evans Hospice and Home Health Care, 3081 Bergen Peak Drive, Evergreen, CO 80439

No services are planned at this time. Interment will be in Alvarado Cemetery in Georgetown.

Hegman Funeral Services of Idaho Falls, Colo., is in charge of arrangements.