Easter Faye Allen

Faye was born on April 11, 1924, in Scotland, Arkansas to John Littleton and Bertha Magnolia (Tester) Williams. Her father died when she was just five years of age. Her mother eventually remarried to James R. Dallas and they moved their family across the country to Washington where they settled in the Naches valley.

In October of 1942, Faye married the love of her life, Arthur W. “Blondie” Allen. When Blondie was discharged from the Navy in 1945, he returned to Naches where they settled down and raised three children. Faye and Blondie were a team – both in raising their family and working in their orchard producing some of the best fruit in the valley.

Through the years, Faye not only worked in the orchard and maintained their household, she also worked for several years at the Hi-Way Café which was owned by her parents during that time, and also at Creamland Café in Naches. Following that, she worked for several years at Allan Bros. warehouse.

Faye was also well known in the Naches valley for her tremendous “green thumb” and was able to grow just about any kind of flower there is! It was a rare time when Faye wasn’t working at something either outside in her yard and garden or inside where she grew African Violets and other plants. Beginning in the spring, you could depend on seeing her beautiful rows of flowers lining their driveway. First it would be tulips; then it would be iris; and finally the gorgeous dahlias! Many people would stop and admire the beautiful flowers! What they didn’t know was that when each set was finished, the bulbs and in the iris’ case – rhizomes would be dug up and stored in a special room in Faye’s basement until the next year when they would be replanted. All of this took a tremendous amount of work, but they brought Faye great pleasure.

Another passion of Faye’s through the years was birds. She raised many a chicken, duck, goose, peacock, quail, and pheasant – sometimes from abandoned nests. If she found a nest that had been abandoned, she would take the eggs home and put them under heat lamps until they hatched. Once hatched, Faye would purchase whatever special food was needed and would take care of them until old enough to be released into the wild. Faye and Blondie both enjoyed the birds and would also feed them in the winter.

Faye is survived by her son Ray Allen (life partner Winona) of Yakima, WA; daughter Joyce Patteson (husband Don) of Selah, WA; granddaughter Debi VanderLinden of Belfair, WA; grandson Jeff Allen (wife Amy) of Allyn, WA, and two great grandsons, CJ and Corey of Pullman, WA (go Cougs!); granddaughter Heather Allen and two great granddaughters, Andrea and Sydney of Roseburg, OR; granddaughter Amber Allen, two great grandsons, Josh and Jace, and one great granddaughter, Jodi of Gresham, OR; granddaughter Kem Patteson (husband Jeff Beauchamp) and great granddaughter Danae of Goldendale, WA; and many nieces and nephews. There are also several people working at Brookdale that Mom considered to be family that were very special to her since that was her home for the past 10 and ½ years.

Preceding her in death was her beloved Blondie – her husband of 68 years who died on September 7, 2010; her parents, two sisters, three brothers, and her firstborn child – daughter Shirley Faye VanderLinden who died in 1984 at age 41. She was also preceded by many other relatives and friends too numerous to mention.

Faye was loved by many, and will be missed by all who knew her. One thing on which everyone would agree is that Faye lived life on her own terms.

A graveside service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 23rd at West Hills Memorial Park. Following the service, a remembrance celebration will be held at the West Valley Church located at 7109 W. Nob Hill Blvd. in Yakima from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. Please dress casually as that would be Faye’s preference.

Donations may be made in Faye’s name to Yakima Memorial Hospice in care of Langevin-El Paraiso Funeral Home, 1010 W. Yakima Ave., Yakima, WA 98902.

“You may be gone from my sight, but you are never gone from my heart.” – Rashida Rowe