Marguerite Allen

Marguerite Allen passed away January 15, 2015, a resident of Canyon Lake, Calif., where she had lived with her husband, Bill, for the last 20 years. She was born Marguerite Yates ninety-four years ago, April 14, 1920, in Okmulgee Oklahoma. She is survived by her husband of seventy-four years, Bill Allen, her sister, Mary Edmundson, and brother, RobertYates, as well as her son, William Allen, and daughter, Cheryl Schima. She was predeceased by her youngest child, Barbara Rainey, who was the first woman Naval Aviator. Other survivors include granddaughters, Kirsten Kelly, Natalie Muraca, Amy Harding, Becky Brown, Cynthia Spezia, and Katie Rainey, and one grandson, Lossom Allen. Also, two foster grandchildren, Mack and Rosie. She had eight great grandsons, Nate, Connor, Aidan, and Beckett Kelly, Vince and Roman Muraca, and Zach and Chad Harding, as well as three great granddaughters, Barbara, Maureen and Joan Spezia Marguerite grew up in Oklahoma, Texas, New Jersey, Maryland, and Arkansas, graduating from high school in Gentry, Arkansas, in 1939. That is where, at a basket ball tournament, she met Bill Allen, who attended high school in nearby Watts, Oklahoma. They both played on their respective high school teams. Although their small town schools were rivals, they found some common ground and were married December 22, 1940, in Gentry. After high school graduation, they enrolled in Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University). However, their higher education plans were interrupted by World War II. Marguerite did not finish her college education until 1966, when she graduated from Long Beach State College (now Long Beach State University) the same week her youngest child, Barbara, graduated from Lakewood High School. Bill enlisted in the Navy in 1942, where he served for most of the next 31 years. Marguerite left school the same year and began teaching under a provisional license in Kansas, Oklahoma, a small town near both Gentry and Watts. She continued teaching for a good part of the next 30 years. Bill's career in the Navy required frequent moves, including duty stations in Texas, Virginia, Southern California, Hawaii, and London, England, as well as sea duty. Marguerite accompanied him to every duty station, except aboard ship. In addition to raising three children in locations and households that changed every two to three years, she taught school in Oklahoma, California, Virginia, Hawaii, and London. After Bill retired from the Navy in 1972, they took up residence in a former home in Long Beach, California, but were soon called back to Arkansas to care for Bill's aging mother. They remained in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, until 1992, when they returned to California to be closer to their grandchildren. They located in Canyon Lake, where they have remained. Until injuries and illness limited her, she regularly attended water aerobics at the Canyon Lake pool and was an avid competitor on the Canyon Lake Chair Volleyball Team. Marguerite lived a long life of love, duty and unswerving loyalty to her husband, family, friends, and church. She made close friends every where they lived, many of whom remained in contact with her as long as they and she were both alive. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her, including relatives by blood and marriage, and many close friends and neighbors. Services Saturday, January 24, at 10:30 a.m., Mountain View Community Church, 33122 Grape Street, Wildomar, Calif. 92595, where Bill and Marguerite have been members for 20 years. Viewing 10–10:20 a.m., preceding services.