Elizabeth Stone Allen

Elizabeth Wyllys Stone Allen (“Betty”) died in Richmond, Virginia, aged 101, on June 29, 2019. She was born at home in Guilford, Connecticut on August 9, 1917. At age 3, Betty moved to Arlington, Virginia with her parents, the late Claudia White Rucker Stone and William Morrell Stone.

Betty grew up in Arlington, graduating from Washington-Lee High School as valedictorian in the class of 1934. Four years later, Betty graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Within three weeks of her college graduation, Betty married George Edward Allen, Jr., a Richmond lawyer she met on a blind date.

Married for 52 years, until George’s death in 1990, Betty and George lived in Richmond and raised four children, two of whom predeceased her, Margaret Allen Aiesi and George E. Allen, III (Ted). Betty is survived by her children Elizabeth Allen Cuthbert (Charles H. Cuthbert, Jr.) and Meredith Councill Allen (Mark Ronquest), her daughter-in-law Anne Cary Hall Allen, Donald P. Aiesi (married to Betty’s daughter Margaret until Margaret’s death in 1987), and her seven grandchildren, Alexandra Defouloy Filer (Michael), Cary Allen Whiteside (Pierce), Richard McIlwaine Cuthbert (Nina), William George Allen (Lauralee), and David Hall Allen, all of Richmond, and Maria Aiesi Pokluda (Brian) of Coppell, Texas and Paul Morrell Aiesi (Lisa) of Greenville, South Carolina. Twelve great grandchildren also survive her.

For 28 years, from the 1950s to the early 1980s, Betty was a “political wife”, standing by her husband’s side during his many political campaigns for election to the Virginia House of Delegates. She was always ready to attend a political picnic in the summertime, a ladies’ coffee in the fall, or the inauguration of a Virginia governor on a cold winter’s day.

For Betty, the highlight of her husband’s political career came in 1957 when she and George had the opportunity to shake the hand of Queen Elizabeth II during the Queen’s official visit to Jamestown. She kept the gloves she wore on this occasion, carefully labelled, to the end of her life.

Growing up, Betty’s children thrived under her watchful and loving care. She encouraged them to meet high academic and moral standards, and her life served as their model. Nothing gave her greater pleasure than spending time with her family.

An art history major in college, Betty enjoyed her many years of volunteer work for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, serving the museum as a docent, a member of the Council of VFMA, and a member of the Board of Trustees.

Betty was a member of the Board of Trustees of The Virginia Home for forty years. Her children remember the early years of her volunteer service there when she transported residents to theaters and concerts in her Ford station wagon. For decades, she wrote Christmas cards to every resident and knew most of them by name.

A faithful member of First Baptist Church of Richmond for 81 years, Betty taught Sunday School and served as President of the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). She was among the first three women ordained deacon at First Baptist.

Betty was a member of the Country Club of Virginia, the Tuckahoe Woman’s Club, and the Woman’s Club.

Betty’s family thanks the caregivers from Heartland Hospice as well as the staff of Impact Senior Services, especially Donna Samuels, Torasha Armstrong, Keisha Manley, and Wanda Richardson for the excellent care they gave Betty at the end of her life.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Betty’s memory to The First Baptist Church Foundation, 2709 Monument Ave. Richmond, Virginia 23220, The Margaret Allen Aiesi Scholarship Fund at St. Catherine’s School, 6001 Grove Ave. Richmond, Virginia 23226 or The Virginia Home, 1101 Hampton St., Richmond, Virginia 23220.

A funeral service will take place at First Baptist Church, 2709 Monument Avenue on July 15, at 11:00 am with visitation to follow in Flamming Hall. Interment will be private.