Violet D Allen

Violet D. (Owsley) Allen, 101, of Macomb, formerly of Roseville, passed away peacefully at 3:53 a.m. on August 21, 2025 at the Lamoine Assisted Living in Macomb. She was born February 3, 1924, in LaHarpe, Illinois, the daughter of Arley and Grace (Collins) Owsley.

Those left to cherish her memory are two daughters, Carol (Bernie) Sims of Salem, Ore., and Colleen (Jerry) Melton of Abingdon; one son Darwin (Patty) Allen of Lincoln; four grandchildren Chad Pica, Adrian Strom, Samantha Donaski and Ashley Allen; three-great grandchildren Lillian and Harrison Strom and Harrison Donaski; one half-sister, Sharon Musselman of Texas and four half-brothers, James, Craig and Max Owsley, all of LaHarpe and Bernard Owsley of Fort Madison, IA.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Harley; siblings, Donald Owsley, Arline Lovell and one half-sister, Marie Basso.

Violet graduated from Terre Haute High School, Terre Haute, Illinois as class president. She moved to Abingdon after high school and worked at the Blue Bell. She married Harley Allen on February 3, 1945 in Washington, Illinois and he preceded her in death on March 20, 2009. They farmed and raised livestock in the Abingdon and Roseville areas. They had annual purebred hog sales for many years and Violet organized and served all of the meals during the sale. After Harley’s passing Violet moved to Oregon to live with her Daughter Carol for a few years before returning to Illinois which she missed greatly. She lived at the Everly House for thirteen years before moving to the Lamoine in April of 2025. The family wishes to express their gratitude to the staff who became more like family while she was living at both homes.

In Memory of My Mother, Violet, With Love, words by Carol who is unable to attend the services;

She would laugh and exclaim, “How did I get to be this old?” And it was a marvel if you examine her early life for clues. When I was 9 or 10 it struck me that she knew how to be such a caring mother given her tumultuous childhood. Later in my teens, I decided that she had been determined to make our childhoods more stable and happier than her own had been. She whistled and sang along with the radio (and danced) while she ironed my dad’s heavy work clothes. She raised huge gardens of vegetables and long rows of flowers and canned and froze two freezers and lots of cupboard space worth of winter meals. Her horse (Beauty) was ladylike and minced through streams and trails while dad’s horse (Prince) leaped rivers in a single bound. Her wedding ring lost its little row of diamonds to the hens when she gathered eggs from underneath them. One at a time-- peck, peck, peck. She loved to laugh and could hardly keep her breath she was laughing so hard. She loved to talk too. (You probably hadn’t noticed that.) I bristled once when someone called her a “good farmer’s wife” because she was so much more than that to me. I felt she could have become anything. She firmly believed that a lovely place was reserved for her in the hereafter. If you close your eyes and listen, you might be able to hear her up there talking with someone now.

Graveside services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, August 25, 2025 at the Abingdon Cemetery, Abingdon, Illinois. A time of visitation will be held from 10:00-10:30 a.m. at the funeral home prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Guide Dogs for the Blind and left in the care of the funeral home. Moore Memorial Home, Roseville, is handling the arrangements.