Dorthy Janetta Allen

Dorthy (Nett) Janetta Aldridge Allen was born on August 29, 1937 at home in Waycross, Georgia. She was the middle child born to Richard Floyd and Stella Lucile Strickland Aldridge. She graduated from Hoboken High School in June 1955. On July 1, 1955 she married the love of her life, Maxwell Allen. They have two daughters, Peggy and Lisa. They also have two son-in-laws, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Dorthy’s nickname growing up was Nett and she liked that name. Her dad was a farmer and she helped him with the crops and would go fishing with him. She grew up with very little. Her farm house had kerosene lamps, well water and one small wood heater. When her mother went to work in the shoe factory she took care of her two younger sisters, Edith and Linda. Nett would cook, clean, sew and help out anyway she could.

Nett played basketball, softball and tennis in high school. Her family did not attend her games. In tenth grade she started admiring a good looking boy who was a senior. He would wink at her in the hallways. One day he asked her to go to a movie with him. On September 4, 1952 they saw Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in Jumping Jacks. He would go to her basketball games and they began dating. He graduated, moved to Savannah for work but would come home every weekend. He waited for her to graduate and on July 1, 1955 they were married at the preacher’s house.

Nett worked for JC Penney as a sales clerk, a teacher’s assistant at Timberlane Elementary and Reudiger Elementary School. In 1970 Nett went to work with the Florida State Division of Retirement. She worked there twenty-three years before retiring in 1993. After retiring she spent her time helping her grandchildren and family.

Nett and Maxie loved the FSU Seminoles. They started attending football games in the late 1970’s and continued going to the games until 2004. She would cook the food for the tailgates and make her delicious famous cheese ball. She and Maxie traveled to many out of town games during those years. She still buys the football and baseball tickets so her family can continue to enjoy attending the games.

Nett loved to cook. On any given day she would be in the kitchen cooking a full meal or making a dessert. Some of her happiest days were making cookies with her great-grandson Jamey. Her grandson Dustin wrote in a school assignment, “My grandma is so nice to me and she takes me to and picks me up from school. She makes the best brownies and cookies in the world.”

Nett taught herself how to sew and sewed clothes for her sisters, Edith and Linda. She made clothes for her daughters, shirts for Maxie and Peggy’s prom dress.

If you knew Nett you knew her family came first. She loved to cook and care for everyone.

Nett is predeceased by her parents, Richard Floyd and Stella Aldridge, siblings, Rosetta Hickox, and Robert Aldridge.

Nett is survived by her husband, Maxie Allen of 70 years, her two daughters, Peggy Williams (Grady) and Lisa Workman (Dan), four grandchildren, Allen Williams, Allison Coleman (Aziz), James Daniel Workman III (Misti) and Dustin Workman (Hannah) and four great-grandchildren, Mila and Cora Coleman, James “Jamey” Daniel Workman IV and Emelia “Emmy” Cianciola-Workman. She is also remembered by her sisters, Edith Roberts and Linda Harris and a very special cousin Doris Watson.

Nett was deeply loved, and her warmth, generosity, and devotion will be missed beyond measure.

A visitation will be held on February 1, 2026 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm at Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home located at 700 Timberlane Road, Tallahassee, FL, 32312. The funeral service will follow the visitation from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, with a burial following the service.