Fern Smedley Allen

Fern Smedley Allen June 12, 1933 March 20, 2015 Fern Smedley Allen, 81, died of Alzheimer's Disease March 20. Her funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 25, at The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, 1624 Wooded Acres Drive, in Waco. Interment will be at Oakwood Cemetery, 2124 S. 5th Street, in Waco immediately after the service. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, 6101 Bosque Blvd., in Waco. Fern was born June 12, 1933, in Spur, Texas. She was the second child and only daughter born to Otis Burton Smedley and Era Alda Wolf Smedley. Her brother, Bobby Joe Smedley, a Marine, died on the Korean War battlefront in late 1951. A longtime Waco resident, Fern moved from the home she shared with her husband Easton Allen to Wesley Woods Healthcare Center in December 2011. There, she was cared for diligently and kindly by both the Wesley Woods staff and Providence Hospice until her death. During Fern's childhood, her family moved several times to accommodate her father's work as a master auto mechanic. During World War II, they lived in Tacoma, Wash., where her father taught women how to maintain and repair military vehicles. After the war, her family moved to Wichita Falls, Texas, where she lived until her marriage. Fern met Easton Allen at a junior-high-school dance and, in high school, sang with him in their a capella choir. They began dating as high-school seniors and attended Midwestern University in Wichita Falls together before Easton transferred to Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Fern and Easton married on Feb. 1, 1952, in Wichita Falls and moved to Lubbock, where Fern worked as a stenographer while Easton attended architecture school and worked at a steel company. Their daughters, Sandra Denise Allen and Marcia Diane Allen, were born in Lubbock in December 1952 and February 1954, respectively. Fern, Easton and their two daughters moved to Waco in 1955, when Easton accepted a position at Alamo Steel & Machine Co. Their son, Dwight Burton Allen, was born in Waco in June 1958. Fern and Easton were charter members of The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Waco and remained very active parishioners until Fern became ill. Once her three children were all in school, Fern worked part-time in several secretarial positions, including long periods at both Northern Propane Gas and Baylor University. She also started two small businesses: "Tops and Toes" and "Hugs from Home." In addition, Fern was a longtime member of Beta Sigma Phi women's social, cultural and service organization and a devoted volunteer cook at Meals on Wheels for more than 25 years. She volunteered for Historic Waco Foundation for many years, as well as for Compassion Ministries. After Easton retired, the two of them volunteered together at both Meals on Wheels and Friends for Lifein addition to their continuing church work. Easton remains a volunteer today. Fern and Easton enjoyed many long friendships, dancing and travelincluding a dream-come-true trip to Australia and New Zealand in recent years. They were dedicated grandparents, dearly loved by their six grandchildren, all of whom are now adults and will serve as pallbearers. Fern is survived by her husband of 63 years, Edward Easton Allen, as well as her three children and six grandchildren, daughter, Denise Allen Zwicker of Sugar Land, Texas, and her children, Laura Elizabeth Everhart and her husband, Ian Blythe Everhart, of South Orange, N.J., and Paul Allen Zwicker and his wife, Sara Wolfe Zwicker, of Austin; daughter, Marcia Allen May and her husband, Don May, of Flower Mound, Texas, her son, Michael Nicholas Magoulas and his wife, Amanda Summers Magoulas, of Carthage, Mo., and their son, Allen Corbie May of Little Elm, Texas, as well as stepdaughters, Jill May Horton, her husband Brent Horton, and three children of Mansfield, Texas, and Jennifer May Jackson, her husband, Robby Jackson, and three children of Amarillo, Texas; and son, Dwight Burton Allen, his wife, Linda Markum Allen, of Waco, and their children, Justin Hollis Allen of Mansfield, Texas, and Trisha Marie Allen of Forney, Texas. Trisha, a nurse in training, visited "Grandmama" Fern daily once she moved to Wesley Woods, postponing her graduation from nursing school to be at Grandmama's side. Easton thanks Fern's neurologist, Dr. Mark Schwartze, for his attention to Fern, as well as Fern's many friends for their love and concern. He requests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, Meals on Wheels or Friends for Life. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our "Memorial Guestbook" at www.WHBfamily.com. Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey