Alice Lydia Allen, 95, died early in the morning on May 2 at Avita of Stroudwater, where she had recently moved.
Born July 28, 1918 in South Bristol to Gifford and Maud Gamage, Alice was the youngest of four daughters. Her early years in South Bristol forged a lifelong love, wonderment, and respect for the sea and connection to the land that comes from living in a rural Maine community. While in elementary school, she would catch cunners off the wharf and sell them for 10 or 25 cents to summer residents.
As she grew older, the family spent winters in Fairhaven, Mass., near New Bedford where the S/V Clione, the yacht her father captained, wintered. Two days before Alice’s 16th birthday the gentle, loving father she adored died. With an older sister and aunts in Portland, she and her mother moved there, a life-changing decision that would bring her to Deering High School and connect her with her future husband, Neal W. Allen Jr. Following her graduation from Deering in 1936, Alice was the first in her family to go on to higher education. She graduated from Westbrook Junior College (now part of University of New England) in 1938 with a degree as a medical secretary. She distinguished herself with exceptional typing skills. She was able to type 125 words per minute on those old manual typewriters, a talent she would later apply in the workplace and typing her husband’s PhD dissertation.
Following Neal’s graduation from Bowdoin, the couple married on Dec. 21, 1940. During their early years of marriage, Alice worked while Neal earned his Masters in history from Harvard. During Neal’s brief teaching position at Mt. Hermon School in Greenfield, Mass., their first child, Richard, was born, but the position ended when he enlisted in the U.S. Army for WWII. Three more children would follow in the ’40s and ’50s as the family moved from Pennsylvania, back to Maine, to Cape Ann, Mass. and finally to Schenectady, N.Y., where her husband joined the Union College history department. Alice enjoyed many years there raising her family, involved as a faculty wife, and spending summers in Maine.
In 1959-1960, the whole family lived in Aberdeen, Scotland, while Neal was a visiting professor at the University of Aberdeen. As a result of this year in Aberdeen, in 1969 son Richard would marry Margaret Reece, the daughter of close personal friends David and Pauline Reece. Another special time living abroad was the 1978 semester when 11-year-old granddaughter Rachel joined Alice and Neal in Bath.
In the 1960s Alice worked briefly for Planned Parenthood and was a census taker. When Neal retired in 1981, after a 30-year career, the couple moved to South Freeport. In 1991 they moved to a house they built on the Allen family property in Sebago. She lived there for a number of years after her husband died in 1992, and spent most of the last four and a half years living at 75 State Street Assisted Living in Portland.
Alice was an excellent baker. When she asked grandson Reed what he wanted for his birthday, he always said, “One of your apple pies.” They are famous with all her family as are her chocolate sauce, rolls, biscuits and muffins. Into her 90s she picked her own blueberries for muffins. She enjoyed reading, braiding rugs, and working on genealogy. She could whip up a meal for 20 and be the most gracious hostess.
Alice took up art after her children were grown and excelled in portraits of her family members. She also enjoyed planning trips and traveling, and lived and traveled in Europe several times as well as visiting relatives around the U.S. Most of all she enjoyed her family. As an empathetic, open-minded person, she had a positive impact of that family.
The last of her generation in the Gamage-Allen line, her long life can be attributed in part to her gratitude for being able to experience the natural beauty around her and this mysterious experience called life; her toughness and strength to face the challenges of aging; and on occasion she brought laughter to those around her with her frankness about her situation.
She is survived by her children, Richard and wife Margaret of Tilton, N.H. and Sebago, Marian of Sitka, Alaska, Neal of Portland and Sebago, and Edward (Ned) and wife Carol Colby of Bridgton; grandchildren, Paul Fenimore of Los Alamos, N.M., Rachel Fenimore of Seattle, Wash., David Allen of Sebago, James Allen of Seattle, Wash., Nicholas Allen of Newbury, Mass., Reed Allen of Bowdoin, and Anastasia Allen of Portland; and great-grandchildren, Wyatt and Evan Allen of Newbury, Mass., Kyle and Eric Fenimore of Los Alamos, N.M., Sydney, Isabelle, and Jack Allen of Seattle, Wash., and Adele Allen of Bowdoin.
A memorial service will be held this summer.
Donations in her honor may be made to the Westbrook Junior College Annual Fund of the University of New England, c/o Scott Marchildon, 716 Stevens Ave., Portland, ME 04103; or Neal Allen Fund at the Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress St., Portland, ME 04101.
Please visit www.jonesrichandhutchins.com for additional information and to sign Alice Allen’s online guestbook.
Services are under the care of Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St., Portland.
