Virginia A. Pinson Allen

On July 15, 2012, Virginia “Jenny Anne” Allen, 84, left the world where she remembered no one and entered eternity to greet her beloved "Junior" and a host of loved ones and friends. Having been afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease for nearly 15 years, she had made her home with her daughter and son-in-law, Sherry and Jerry Keffer, for the past ten. It was there that she died peacefully in a house filled with love. She was born January 10, 1928, to Benjamin H. and Katie Blizzard Pinson in Minden, the eldest of four daughters. A bright, faithful, hard-working child, she became a creative, caring, industrious, nurturing adult. She was a beautiful 16-year-old majorette in the Red Devil Marching Band when she fell in love with Arthur “Junior” Allen. They were married when she was 17, and they shared their always apparent love until his death in 2002. She was also preceded in death by her father and two sisters, Rosemary Feazell and Patricia Hinte. She is survived by three daughters—Sherry Keffer and her husband Jerry, Vicki Lagos and her husband Jim, all of Oak Hill; and Sally Hazlett of Winfield; seven grandchildren—Dr. Scott Keffer and his wife Amanda of Victor; Dr. Rachel Lagos of Morgantown; Katie Keffer Hayes and her husband Jim of Oak Hill; Mary Lagos of Cross Lanes; and Jenny Hazlett of Blacksburg, Va., and 10 great-grandchildren,--James, Savannah, Arthur, Sarah, Addison, Jaden, Jackson, Holden, Braxton, and Benjamin; her 103-year-old mother, Katie Pinson; one sister—Suellen Navicki and her husband Larry of Oak Hill; and a brother-in-law, Jack Hinte of Sunset Beach, NC. She is also survived by a host of loving nieces and nephews on both sides of her family whom she loved dearly as well as her aunt Rosalie Leffell.She also leaves behind faithful caregivers Kim,Carol, and Margaret. Although she retired in 1991 as the co-owner with her mother of Katie’s Dress Shop in Oak Hill, she spent the earlier years of her marriage as a home-maker…and what a homemaker she was. The smells coming out of her kitchen were tantalizing and inviting. Jenny’s rolls, home-canned half runners, gravies of all kinds, and pecan pies were without rival. When she and her friend from childhood, Helen Crouch, made doughnuts, people poured in from the whole neighborhood. The recipe was for ten dozen, so there was never a shortage. Her girls went to school in stiffly starched and ironed clothes and shiny shoes, and they went to Sunday School each week with a nickel tucked safely into one of the fingers of their gloves. She created a home where everyone felt welcome. It was a fun place and a haven for the many visiting relatives. It didn’t matter if they sometimes spilled out onto couches or floors. They were in a house filled with love and caring, and they knew it. As the children became teenagers, she opened their home to their friends who would roll up the rug and dance to the latest tunes, play softball in the big yard, or have slumber-or after-prom parties. No parent ever questioned when their children wanted to go to the Allen’s, because knew there would be adult supervision. Many of her daughters’ friends still recall her beautiful smile and her tinkling, open laugh. They also remember that if they did something they shouldn’t, they’d be in serious trouble with her…and with their own parents, because she would tell. Some of her proudest moments came through seeing the successes of her children and grandchildren, and there was not a role she cherished more than that of “Mimi.” She was a good daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, aunt, friend and neighbor. A 1945 graduate of Oak Hill High School, she was a life member of the OHHS Alumni Association. The family asks that donations to the Scholarship fund be made in her memory (OHHS/CHS Alumni Association, Box 462, Oak Hill, WV 25901). The family will greet friends beginning 12:15 p.m. Sunday, July 22, at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Oak Hill, WV to greet friends. A memorial service will immediately follow at 1:30 p.m. , conducted by the Rev. Roy Crist with memories shared by friends and family. Burial will be at High Lawn Memorial Park. Online condolences may be sent to www.tyreefuneralhome.com . Arrangements are being handled by Tyree Funeral Home, Oak Hill, W. Va.