Feb. 20, 1943 – Aug. 6, 2023
Heather Allen passed away on Aug. 6.
Heather was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. She earned a degree in nutrition, followed by an internship at McGill University Hospital in Montreal. Heather’s father was a Royal Canadian Air Force officer, and her family moved frequently while she was growing up.
Heather was first runner-up in the 1961 Miss Halifax pageant and was elected Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants.
At the age of 20, Heather accepted a dietitian position at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore and moved to the United States. She would become a U.S. citizen in 2000.
Heather hated working in the bowels of a large metropolitan hospital and, after just seven months she resigned because she wanted to experience life and felt that she was “too young to die.” She next took a summer job with a newspaper on Fire Island, New York, and worked as a transcriber for novelist Herman Wouk.
When the newspaper position ended in September, Heather and her cat headed west in a limousine that was being delivered to San Francisco. Once she arrived in Berkeley, California, she took a job as a gift wrapper at Frazier’s department store and taught preschool. Heather enrolled in the Graduate School of Dramatic Art at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she met her future husband, Andre Allen. She had no background in theater, but the department was headed by a set designer who was looking for people who were willing to work behind the scenes.
Heather took part in the 1964 Free Speech Movement at Berkeley. She was among the more than 2,000 students who occupied the Sproul Hall administration building. She left before the police arrived to make arrests, however, so as not to be deported.
Heather and Andre were married in 1970. They moved to Ashland in 1980, to raise their children in a small town with good schools. In 1998, they purchased a home on 10 acres overlooking Emigrant Lake.
Heather loved dogs and allowed her four pets to run freely on the family property. Author Robert Parker wrote that “Heaven is a place where all the dogs you have loved come running to greet you.” Heather is now with the many dogs she loved.
She was a creative artist who painted, sewed, made jewelry, dolls and restored vintage furniture. Heather sold her works at Collectors Market in Medford. She also volunteered at Rogue Regional Medical Center and the Jackson County Animal Shelter and worked at the Ashland Interstate 5 Welcome Center.
Heather is survived by her husband, Andre; her daughter Corinna Cook, Corinna’s husband, David, and their daughters Ava and Sloane; daughter Deirdre Pearson and her husband, Eric; daughter Rosie Roberson, her husband, Josh, and their children Maisie, Cole, and Henry; son Zachary Allen, his wife, Monique, and their son, Hank; son Michael Allen, his wife, Julie Titus, and their daughter, Alithea.
Heather’s dogs, Munchkin, Peanut and Django, also survive her.
Heather was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Margaret Monnon, and her brother Terry.
A celebration of Heather’s life will take place in October. Donations in Heather’s name may be made to Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS).
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