Rita Barbara Allen

Written by Heather Allen (granddaughter) and Bob Allen (son)

On August 23rd, 2022, Rita Barbara Allen passed away peacefully on her favorite couch, with golden sunlight streaming in from a nearby door. Rita was 95 years old at the time of her passing and went home to God, many loved ones especially her husband of nearly 62 years, John Canning Allen IV.

Born in June of 1927 to John and Eleanor Terkowski, Rita was one of eleven siblings which consisted of her older brother Jackie and her younger brothers and sisters Patricia (Patsy), Monica, Dorothy, Diane, Edward (Edju), Bernadette (died in infancy), Tommy, Frankie and Camille (Cammy).

She was born and raised in Nanticoke, PA and grew up poor; despite this, Rita had many fond memories of her childhood. She was the second oldest child and the oldest girl, so Rita ended up raising most of her brothers and sisters. Once when she was five years old, her younger brother Edju set the house on fire!

Rita’s younger sister, Dorothy — who was an infant at the time — had a nighty that caught on fire, too. Thinking quickly, Rita dunked her in a pail of water that was nearby before making sure all of the children made it outside in time. Her selflessness, quick-thinking, calm during chaos and showing maturity well beyond her kindergarten age saved countless lives. Rita’s early life wasn’t easy per se, but it helped mold her into the amazing young woman she would become.

Though Rita’s family lived in poverty as many did during the Great Depression, she had many wonderful memories. She often talked about walking up the side of the local mountain and picking blueberries and putting them in a metal pail. Rita would eat them as she scurried back down the mountain, hurrying home before the sun set. Rita cared for her ten siblings so well, a loving and doting older sister. This experience opened a deep well of love for children and solidified intensely strong family values within her. She was very close to her Grandmother, who raised her as well as several of her siblings and she often stayed with her. Her Grandmother would give them things like black bread and apple butter, oranges, and polish meats, stews or soups, which for the great depression era would have been considered a real feast.

Rita went to Catholic school and had a best friend named ‘Tootsie’ who she shared many good times with. As young teenagers, Rita and Tootsie would sneak tubes of lipstick into their socks and paint each other’s lips. When the church bell tolled and they knew it was time to get home, they would quickly wipe off the lipstick, giggling and holding hands as they raced home.

When younger Rita also recounted an act of kindness from an older local man. He was well-off and wealthy and he saw her coming home from school one day. Several times, he put dimes down on the ground, leading to the local candy shop and grocery shop. Rita would pick up the dimes and he sat outside playing “Rio Rita” on his guitar. When she asked him why he did this, he told her “you’re a good person, take food home to your family” and tipped her a wink. He continued to play his guitar. This gift, with no strings attached, always remained in her heart and would inspire generosity in Rita when she was older.

Rita, as a young teenager, related how during the summer she’d stay out until the 9 pm whistle which, once blown, meant she had to race home. During her late teen years she worked in the local Duper silk mill. She was such a hard-worker that-soon after her high school graduation-she was offered a Supervisor position, unheard of for such a young person, especially a young girl. Rita was torn; on the one hand, the money was like nothing they ever had before. Her father was a coal-miner and her mother a stay-at-home wife/mother, struggling with so many kids. When she was done work at the silk mill, her mother Eleanor (and her Mom Anna) would wait on the porch to make sure Rita’s paycheck went right into her hand.

On the other hand, Rita was intensely smart, making “Straight A’s” in high school and able to opt out of her final exams. Her younger sister, Patsy, had gone to Delaware County, a suburb of Philadelphia, to live with their Aunt and was in nursing school. Patsy was her closest sister and wanted Rita to come live with them too. Rita went out on a limb and went on an adventure to move to Philly. She always said, “I was the country mouse and I had to become the city mouse.”

Patsy and Rita lived together. Patsy became a Nurse at Temple Hospital and Rita got a job as a medical transcriptionist at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Even in her mid-90’s, she could still remember and spell “bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.”

One day, Rita and Patsy went to a holiday party. Her future husband -John Allen- was also at this holiday party, as he was a student at University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and was both enlisted in the Army, having completed basic training and AIT and enrolled in the ROTC program to become an Officer. They locked eyes. John said, “she was the most amazing woman I ever saw. She wasn’t just beautiful-she was GORGEOUS.” Rita would comment that, “I went for his Army Lieutenant uniform and he went for my purple knit-dress!” Six months later, they were married (November 23, 1952).

Immediately after marrying, John traveled to Fulda, Germany, taking part in the post-World War II stabilization and rebuilding efforts in American-Occupied Germany. One of their favorite stories to tell was about “the Amazing Katrinka”, a German housekeeper who John swore picked up a couch with one hand and vacuumed under it with the other. When we all laughed, he would say “I’m serious!” and Rita said, “it’s true.” They were hilarious together.

Rita joined John in Fulda soon after he arrived. They traveled across many different parts of Europe, including the Netherlands and France, Ireland and more. She also related a story that illustrated her generosity. She saw some German children going through the garage cans of the Americans, looking for food. Rita made some sandwiches and put those, and other things, in brown paper bags and gave them to the children.

Before heading home to Philadelphia, they considered adopting a little girl who was orphaned by the war. But after a boat ride, Rita noticed she was more seasick than usual. Turns out, she was pregnant with her first son. As a young couple, they couldn’t take on another child and they always remembered that little girl.

They had their first son back home. He was named John Canning Allen V. Two years later in 1956, their second son Robert was born. They first lived in Allentown PA then moved to Mt Pleasant Avenue close to Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy PA. John’s parents, John III and Olga Allen, lived close by. Finally, they purchased a house in Warminster in 1965 and lived there until 2013. Rita’s life revolved around her two young sons; she was a devoted, loving mother and loved taking her kids out and making beautiful memories with them.

Rita & John became part-owners in a family run Skee-Ball/arcade business in Avalon City, NJ. Rita loved operating the arcade and being around all the other families and especially kids. Rita was a social butterfly, from the time of her birth till when she passed. She always had a lot of very close and good friends, people that were usually like her, down-to-earth, caring, and friendly. Some included Mary Pinder, Joan Fleischer, Vivian Szymanski, and Tillie Torman. An example of how much people cared about Rita and John, her son Bob once counted the number of Christmas cards they received and the number totaled around 100.

As her kids grew, Rita worked many different jobs. She did not just stay at home with her children (there is nothing wrong with that!) but worked many jobs, which was unusual for women at that time (the early to mid-60's). In Fulda Rita worked with the Army wives, including helping in the church and belonging to an officer’s wives cooking club (she still has the Fulda cookbook given to all the members). She also helped hand out coffee and donuts to the troops. As noted, she worked at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Rita also loved working at Toy City, a locally run toy store in Warminster. She got to work amongst so many children there and would relate a story of how she’d go outside the store and do the hula hoop to show kids how it worked since, at that time, it was a new toy that no one had seen before.

This job allowed her joy and love of family to flourish even more. Rita additionally met her best friend of more than 45 years, Louise Zoller, at Toy City.

One notable occasion was when Rita worked for Roy Rogers Restaurant — she was such a beloved manager, and had a great work ethic that she was awarded a Manager of the Year award which included a plaque and a dinner at the Marriott hotel located on the Main Line in Philadelphia. She was presented these awards by Roy Rogers himself. We still have a picture of this meet-up today! Later Rita also took a manager roll at Dunkin’ Donuts and at many other places. She LOVED working and always kept busy. However, despite this work, Rita always managed to come home (usually around 3 pm) and be there for her husband and children, cooking them wonderful meals. In that regard, Rita was an exceptional cook and baker, learning from her relatives including her mother-in-law, Olga Allen. Both Rita and John loved the holidays, especially Christmas, and they hosted almost every holiday in their home. Rita was an amazing cook. She made everything from scratch and taught her granddaughter to love cooking and baking as well. After Olga became too old to host, Rita became the matriarch of the family, cooking and hosting traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners (Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, vegetable medley, cranberry sauce, rolls, etc.) for much of the extended family all the way into the 2000’s. She loved to bake as well, including Christmas cookies like Scotch Shortbread, Bourbon Balls, Almond Crescents, Butter cookies, Polish Angel Wings (Chrusciki’s), Hersey Kisses Peanut Butter Blossoms, and White Fruitcake. Rita would spend days, and a great deal of money, making dozens and dozens of cookies and up to eight fruitcakes for family and friends. She also had an artistic flair for making all types of appetizers. When in Warminster Rita took several cooking classes including a Gourmet cooking class and a candy making class (she took other courses as well such as typing). For Easter Rita would make chocolate covered coconut cream easter eggs as well as peanut butter cream eggs, again for both family and friends. She also was fond of going to flea markets to make a few dollars and to socialize, buying and selling antiques and also selling home made breads like banana bread as well as homemade candy and fudge, all of which were very popular.

Rita was extremely proud of her boys. She and John shared values and raised their sons to be strong in said values. They valued hard-work, generosity, frugality, strength and empathy. They valued self-discipline and family. Upon raising so many children as a child herself, Rita honed in on those mothering skills and also shared the tools she learned on how to succeed with her sons. John was an avid businessman, having attended the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania. Rita was also a straight-A student and while she didn’t go on to college, she was no less brilliant in terms of being a great salesperson. Friendly and able to strike up a conversation with anyone, about anything, she loved to help others and genuinely enjoyed getting to make her American dream come true. This was an important lesson she shared with her sons: that if you work hard, and do the right things, you can succeed, no matter the struggle.

Rita’s sons were her pride and joy; “Johnny and Bobby”, she was what we call nowadays a ‘Boy Mom’ and anyone who knows what it’s like to have a son or has dealt with a protective boy mom knows, you don’t mess with a Mama and her baby boy (or boys). So it was with Rita. She was fierce, loving, all-attentive, all-giving and selfless when it came to her husband and sons. They loved her right back and gave back to her as well. She proudly stated she ‘raised two good sons’.

After their sons graduated high-school and then college, Rita continued to be social with her friends after retirement. She was known to go on walks that were sometimes miles and miles long with one of her best friends Louise. She enjoyed socializing with her neighbors, especially the Myers, and she and John loved to go to their local Senior Center (Ben Wilson Senior Activity Center) for Bingo & other events such as the Spaghetti Dinner.

John & Rita loved to travel; they went to visit their son Bob in New Mexico (Las Cruces) when he attended New Mexico State University. Later they would visit Bob in Orlando when her was attending the University of Central Florida and then when he worked for the US Navy followed by the Disney company.

When their granddaughter, Heather, was born in 1992, they bought a balloon that said “it’s a girl, it’s a girl, it’s a girl!” They had never lost that desire for a daughter since that little girl they had to say goodbye to in Germany.

Heather states that “literally almost every weekend, I was at my Grandparents’ house, well into adulthood. They picked me up after school in elementary school and we would walk to Styers (a farmer’s market) for lunch. In high school, when I met Ryan and we became a couple, he joined me in going over there and when I was in college at Temple, I took the train every weekend to the Warminster station and Grandpop picked me up. While other kids partied, I spent time with John & Rita. There’s nowhere on Earth I’d rather be”.

When Bob moved to Florida and began to work for Disney, Rita and John would visit him there often and Heather and her Dad soon joined them. The family also took trips to New Mexico and Carlsbad and White Sands. These were amazing vacations and some of the most favorite times with my family. Some of the other best times were the holidays. As noted, Rita made the most amazing white fruitcake, sugar and butter cookies for Christmas and all different types of foods and baked goods. She did the same for Thanksgiving and Easter but Thanksgiving and Christmas were the best time to eat her food! Rita and John loved kids and loved giving — the joy on their faces from giving was always apparent, whether it was the neighborhood kids, giving them candy on Halloween or giving Christmas presents to family on Christmas morning. It brought them such happiness. They were the glue that held our family together.

My Grandfather passed away in September of 2013, when I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter, Ella. It was devastating, because he wanted to meet his first Great-Grandchild so badly. Rita moved to Florida shortly after, where she moved in with her son, Bob.

Rita & Bob were especially close all their lives. Bob cared for her with love and devotion and gave her NINE more beautiful years of life. We worried that Rita would follow my Grandpop after his passing, because we know that is very common in older couples and they had been married for almost 62 years (a month away from their anniversary). However, she stayed strong and she continued to enjoy life and life loved her right back.

Rita met her great-granddaughter Ella Lucille Allen in June of 2014. She fell in love with Ella instantly, and vice-versa. I would be playing with Ella on the front porch and the door would open and out would pop the front of Rita’s walker. She’d come and sit with us and sing “a tisket, a tasket” or “a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck” and “clap your hands ‘till Daddy comes home.” The favorite of course was “the eensy-beensy Spider”! That’s how my Grandmom sang it and it was the cutest thing ever. Ella loved it!

Ryan and I visited Rita & Bob in Florida on several occasions in two years as Bob had business trips to attend so we watched Grandmom for a couple weeks each time. We made so many memories, took her out to the Disney parks, we went out to dinner, the movies. It was beyond fun. Ella and Rita became even closer and Ella has so many memories because of the time we spent together.

One special event that Rita loved was her 90th birthday celebration. Primarily arranged by her son John, almost 40 family members and friends gathered together at a restaurant in Langhorne PA to help celebrate Rita’s life. A great time was had by all. One thing her son Bob started to say to her every night at bedtime was the following “OK Mom, love you. Have a good night’s sleep. Remember to count your blessings and say your prayers. Remember the ladies across the street said you are a sweet lady,

Heather said you’re her favorite person, and Ella said of all the grandmoms you’re the best. And, for your 90th birthday, we had 40 people come.” Most times Rita would say “really, 40 wow?!” indicating how much that number meant to her. After the 90th birthday party Bob read handwritten notes in some of the birthday cards given to Rita and some of what was written brought tears to her eyes, hearing how much she meant to others. Rita also liked the blanket that her sister-in-law Marlene had made for her. Its an embroidered throw blanket with her name – Rita – spelled out in large letters. She really loved looking at it.

Bob gave Rita such a great life here. They had a great routine together and Bob took her to the Casino in Tampa, the movies, the Disney parks and church. We had Thanksgiving here every year and Christmas too. It was wonderful. Rita truly had a fantastic time in Florida and her quality of life was excellent. Bob cared for his Mom with the devotion only a son or daughter can have for their Mother. I knew I wanted to move here as soon as I could to be close to her again. Though we saw her pretty often, I wanted to see them even more.

Bob took Rita to Holy Family Catholic Church every Sunday. Back in PA, Rita and her sister Patsy had gone to Nativity Church in Warminster every Sunday. Often, they went to the Shrine of Czestochowa, the local Polish shrine, as well. It is a gorgeous place, actually a national landmark, that attracts Catholics from all over the world. Bob took his Mom and Aunt there before he moved to FL and then I took over that routine after Patsy died and when I was old enough to drive. Patsy lived with Rita and the family for many years and was a vital part of their family unit. She was also an amazing woman, very similar to my Grandmother. Bob also took Rita out to dinner, to the movies, for walks around the block and enjoyed watching movies with her every weekend while eating dinner. Rita particularly loved ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’.

In March of 2019, my children and I moved to Windermere, FL and my parents moved down here soon after, to Winter Garden, ten minutes away. We all were close again, our whole family. We made three and a half years of marvelous memories together; of course, more Disney trips, movie trips, Casino days, dinners and family time at home. We loved her and she loved us back.

While Rita missed her husband of 62 years, she had 9 amazing years here in Florida. Really, until the very end of her life — maybe 2–3 weeks before her passing — she did really well, even when she was no longer mobile. She still very much enjoyed socializing, she had an awesome 95th birthday and loved being sang to, she was happy and glowing when she blew out the candles and gave Ella a big ‘mutzie’ (her word for smooch). She had a great time!

We also had fun taking her to see movies at the local Cinepolis, going for walks around the neighborhood and of course watching LOTR and HP. Rita loved to look outside and see the flowers, she enjoyed people-watching and watching the world go by.

Unfortunately, Rita’s health started to decline in the last two months. She began to have issues with sleeping and then caught COVID-19. Rita passed away peacefully on her favorite couch yesterday, at 2:03 PM. I went over to adjust her blanket as I had just checked on her 10 minutes before and she was not breathing. The hospice nurse was here at the time and she confirmed she was gone to Heaven.

What I’m grateful for is that she passed on her absolute favorite couch and not in a bed or hospital. She was surrounded by the ones she loved, me and Bob and then my Dad and Mom. She enjoyed her 95th birthday in June, surrounded by her family and her two beloved Great-Grandchildren, especially Ella, whom she adored. Bob & I were inseparable with Rita and we are really having a hard time adjusting to this. I didn’t sleep much last night and neither did he, but we are here for each other. I am eternally grateful to my parents for helping with my children so selflessly so we could be together with Rita during this time and to my Mom who advocated for her health and my Dad who gave of his time to manage her affairs. My Uncle for giving her his home and his love and so much of his life and to Rita for giving us back her love, generosity of spirit and joy and laughter, tenfold.

Many of my friends met my Grandmother when we were growing up. She loved my best friends, especially Brittany D., Kiersten G., Stephanie & Cassidy the twins, Katie P., Heather M., and both of my

Grandparents were also very proud of Hope, my niece, their first great grandchild.

Rita’s life wasn’t always easy, especially in the beginning. She worked extremely hard to escape her upbringing and took off as a young single woman in a time when it wasn’t easy for women to do such things and she busted her hump and worked hard. She served my Grandpop his tea and brought all of us homemade dinner. She was selfless. She loved having people over and was a chatterbox and a social butterfly-she genuinely enjoyed being a Hostess with the Mostest. She thrived on it. She loved getting compliments and giving compliments. Rita prided herself on her values and her family more than anything.

When you have someone in your life for thirty years, or in my Dad and Uncle’s cases, 68 years and 66 years, it is so incredibly hard to say goodbye. While I understand people say they lived a long life, and yes I am grateful she had almost an entire century of beautiful life, it also makes it difficult to adjust to life without them. Especially a person like my Grandmom, who WAS so full of life! She was the life of the party and so full of fascinating stories from the Golden Generation. Rita & John lived in Fulda Germany with John serving in Japan prior to Fulda. They built an incredible life with hard work stitched together with love. They adored their sons and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They felt joy from giving to others. The thing that could put the biggest smile on their faces was watching their immediate and extended family opening presents on Christmas Day or talking in their living room on Thanksgiving.

Again — while hers was a life to celebrate, especially after 95 years — it is also extremely difficult to say ‘goodbye’ to someone who has been such a pillar of an entire family. My Grandfather was the Patriarch and she was the Matriarch and they were the glue that held us together. It’s left a big void in our lives but we are trying to fill that void with love, light, memories and continuing to be there for each other, continuing to uphold those values and to live life to the fullest as Rita did.

I miss taking my Grandmom to Czestochowa Church every Sunday, lighting a candle in the chapel, then going to mass and eating lunch. I miss baking sugar cookies with her in the kitchen and the smell of her baking and cooking. I miss her opening her wooden jewelry box and letting me wear all her costume jewelry. I miss hearing her putter around the house, making tea at 4 AM and watching the sun rise. I miss coming in the door at midnight on a weekend and she was laying on the couch with the lamp on. She wouldn’t go to bed till I got in (she did the same with her sons). I miss her arms around me. I miss seeing her hold hands with my daughter, Ella. I miss hearing her sweet voice say “I like you” and “you’re my best friend.” I miss seeing her stick her tongue out at my Grandpop when she tried to sneak a peek at his cards when we played poker. I miss seeing her at the Disney parks, loving the shows and blowing out her many birthday candles. I miss her saying “I have all my teeth and all my hair and I don’t wear glasses.” I miss seeing her glow when she talked about her sons and her saying “Bob give me something to eat.” She was one amazing woman and she is literally irreplaceable.

Rita loved going to the Bellagio in Vegas for their 50th anniversary and seeing the Cirque du Soleil. She loved the Blue Man Group, traveling in Europe, going to New Mexico and “living in Disney”. She was Queen of Warminster for many decades and then Queen of Windermere for a decade!

While death is a part of life, and it should be respected and given the same dignity and value as birth, it is really difficult. I lost my Grandfather who many know was my absolute everything. Then I lost my husband

Ryan who was my best friend and my soul mate, the LOVE of my life. Now my Grandmom. She was more than a Grandmother. She was another parent like Grandpop was. She was a confidante, a best friend, a role model. She was everything.

I know it’s selfish. I wish she was here. I know she’s in a better place and I have faith in that because I don’t feel her here-she was with my Grandpop immediately. Grandpop stuck around for a few days and Ryan stuck around for a few hours to say bye to Ella. I don’t care if anyone doesn’t believe in those things. I KNOW there is a better place when we pass and I know God has her in his loving arms. I know Ryan and Grandpop are with her and that she’s with her best friend and beloved sister, Patsy and also her sister Monica.

Grandmom, I am so proud to be your granddaughter. I could not be ANY prouder than I am. You were strong, good, kind, hilarious, feisty, perseverant, generous, loving, hard-working and selfless. You, as I said, were everything to us. And as we always said to you before bedtime, you are a sweet lady.

Thank you for being you. Rest peacefully and enjoy it up there. I will see you all again one day, though I wish I could see you now. I will raise my babies to know your stories so they can pass it on to their babies and grandkids one day. Your spirit and your story will live on with us, and we will uphold your legacy and name.

I want to issue a special ‘thank you’ to Robert Canning Allen, Rita’s son. Thank you for taking such amazing care of your Mom. She was ‘your best friend’, your other half. You were ‘her baby boy’ and she looked for you every morning as soon as she woke up! Rita loved you more than words can describe Bob, more than I can express. I know you tend to be hard on yourself and look back and see what ‘could have been done better’ — but let me say this: you gave her a decade of joy, happiness, fun and wonderful memories after she lost her husband of 62 years. That is SUCH a huge gift, you have no idea!

So many older people pass after their spouses because they feel their lives are done. You gave her another life beyond that one and I know she was so incredibly grateful for that and I know she also brought YOU (and me of course) tons of joy as well and gave you so much love too. I want you to know I will continue to be here for you always, how proud she was of you and how proud I am of you. You took great care of her, not just physically but also spiritually and emotionally. We love you!

Thank you to my Mom for advocating for her and to my Dad for managing her affairs. Thank you to my kids for loving her and thank you to Grandmom for giving us life and this family and thousands of precious memories. And above all, so much love.

Relatives and friends are invited to Rita's Viewing on Thursday September 8th, 2022 from 10:00am until the time of her Funeral Mass at 11:00am at Nativity of Our Lord Church 605 West Street Road, Warminster PA 18974. Interment will follow after at Hillside Cemetery.

Rita — in elementary school — was given the opportunity to ‘recite’ the Parable of the Lost Sheep after doing so well with her handwriting. Here was one of her all-time favorite Bible passages. It used to move her to tears.

Luke 15:1–10, NKJV:

“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

Kind words of condolences may be offered to the Allen Family in the online guest book below.