BIG CANOE, Ga. (ABP) — Wanda Ruth Massey Allen, 74, wife of former Southern Baptist Convention president Jimmy Allen, died at her home in Big Canoe, Ga., Nov. 13 after a long illness.
Born in Duncan, Okla., she graduated from Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, in 1949. She taught speech arts and second grade for 23 years in public schools in Dallas and San Antonio, choosing to work in racially changing communities and in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
A significant part of Allen's life experience was reflected in her role as grandmother of two children who died of HIV-AIDS. In the early 1980s, the two boys, Bryan and Matt, were infected by contaminated blood transfusions. Bryan's House, the first pediatric agency for AIDS children in the nation, was named for her grandson, who was the first baby of record to die of HIV-AIDS in Dallas. Her family's struggle with AIDS is documented in the book “Burden of a Secret” by Jimmy Allen.
Widely known for her sense of humor, Allen worked as an entertainer and after-dinner speaker. Active among Texas Baptists, she led Young Woman's Auxiliary, a missions organization for young women.
Jimmy Allen, a longtime Texas Baptist pastor, was president of the Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission and, for the past decade, chaplain at Big Canoe Chapel.
Survivors, in addition to her husband of 54 years, include three sons, Michael Wayne Allen of San Antonio, Stephen Ray Allen of Dallas, and Kenneth Scott Allen of Sydney, Australia; one grandchild, Diana Allen of Laredo; a sister, Wilma Durtschi, Brownwood, Texas; and a nephew, Charles Durtschi of Grand Prairie, Texas.
Memorial Services will be Monday, Nov. 17, at 10:30 a.m. at Big Canoe Chapel. Burial will be that afternoon in the Chapel Cemetery in the Jimmy R. Allen Meditation Park.
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