The community lost a wonderful and selfless person when, on March 15, Doris S. Allen, a 52 year resident of Furnace Road, Wernersville, lost her eight year battle with cancer. She was 87.

Doris was born in Woodstown, New Jersey to parents, Oscar and Sarah Shoemaker, long deceased. She was raised on their farm in Mullica Hill with her brother, Lester, who survives her. She learned the value of hard work on the farm and became the first in her family to attend and to graduate from college, which she did in 1950, earning a BA in Elementary Education from Trenton State College, now known as The College of New Jersey. She immediately began a teaching career, starting at Mullica Hill Elementary School and ending in Shillington at the Cumru Elementary School. She taught for 37 years and provided valuable lessons and positive guidance to countless students who attended her classes. She never grew tired of helping her pupils. Remarkably, some of her former students ended up taking care of her when she was receiving cancer treatments at the Reading Hospital. Not only did they remember her, every one of them expressed genuine appreciation and affection for her.

Doris died in the 64th year of her marriage to her childhood sweetheart, Elmer. They have one son, Robert, who lives in Manchester, Maine with his wife, Sara Burns. Doris was blessed with two grandsons, Andrew G. Allen, of Washington, D.C., and Aaron J. Allen, of New York City.
Doris possessed a multitude of talents and people skills. She enjoyed reading and was a talented writer. She was an unbelievably good cook. After her retirement, she tended the flower gardens that surround her home and worked as a volunteer in numerous community projects and causes. She also traveled extensively in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She made friends wherever she went. She had the uncanny knack of striking up meaningful conversations with complete strangers and built upon many of those conversations to forge ongoing friendships. Until her last illness, she stayed in touch through letters and emails with these acquaintances. More important to her, however, were the scores of friendships that she built over her resplendent life, both in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania. As so many have said, “She was a good friend.” She was also a wonderful mother, a beloved wife and an irreplaceable grandmother. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her.

Interment will occur at a later date on the grounds of the First Baptist Church in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.

Although Doris loved flowers, before she passed away, she expressed her preference that any family member or friend, who wished to honor her memory, does so by making a donation to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee or to the Salvation Army.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Doris S. Allen, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.