Mari Lynn Allen

Mari Lynn Allen passed peacefully in her sleep on Dec 31, 2024, with her children by her side. She lived a lifetime full of adventures, which couldn’t possibly fit on this page. 

 Lynn was born in Maine and preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Dora Paulhus, and her brother John C. Paulhus. Her parents were lovingly known as “Oma and Opa” to the family in later years before her father passed. As a child, her family traveled quite a bit for her father’s career. In addition, they enjoyed quarter horse races and family vacations to their second home in Florida. She continued that tradition with her own children by driving them to Florida every Spring Break to visit her mother in later years. Her mother instilled in her a love of music and taught her how to play the piano at a very young age. She played beautifully up until the very end. Her family have fond memories of her playing while singing Christmas carols during the holidays. Her parents also taught her to play card games and she learned the calculated strategy of playing bridge which she enjoyed with family and friends for years to come. 

Most of her childhood was spent in Massachusetts. She later earned a Bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Her childhood desire was always to see the world and travel around the globe. Following college, she was selected as a flight attendant for TWA. In her later years, she went on further worldwide adventures with a select charter airline, Evergreen. When her children were young, she put her college degree to work and enjoyed time as an English teacher for grades 7-12. 

On one of her TWA flights from NYC to LA she met a tall, handsome helicopter pilot named Edward Hale. She eventually married this US Army Aviator in 1958 following his graduation from West Point and had two children, Edward and Lizabeth. They were stationed overseas in Germany, Fort Rucker AL, and Ft. Benning GA. Unfortunately, he preceded her in death due to a helicopter accident in June 1966 when their children were 7 and 5. 

Lynn built a new life with her family and married US Army Aviator Teddy Allen in December 1967. Her family was blessed with a surprise when new baby son was welcomed into the family, David. Lynn was an exceptional, caring, loving, nurturing mother and spouse, who raised her three children while moving from military base to military base due to her husband’s Army orders. She was constantly shuttling the children to all of their activities: swimming, dancing, soccer, track, clogging, theatre, and countless others. One military assignment in the Philippines, specifically Manila, is where she learned how to play Mahjong, by Air Force rules. This instilled a lifelong source of joy for her and soon the entire family adopted a new tradition.

She met many lifelong friends during her years as a military spouse who remained close over the decades. True friendships withstand the test of time and are always just a phone call away. She taught her family that to have a good friend you had to BE a good friend…

Remarkably resilient, Lynn built another new life for herself after divorcing Teddy, enjoying a large network of friends in Atlanta, GA. When the family would go to visit, we would enjoy trips to the Coca Cola museum, the Georgia Aquarium, The Varsity, Piedmont Park, and we would always run the Peachtree Roadrace 10K on the 4th of July. She enjoyed playing cards and other games (especially Mahjong and Shanghai rummy), music, and clogging. 

Always up for an adventure, even late in life she was hiking the Appalachian Trail with best friend, Alice, and taking her entire family skiing in Aspen. It was so fun to watch her keep up with her grandkids on the slopes with a big smile on her face. 

She is survived by her three children: Edward Hale (wife- Laura), Lizabeth Mudd (husband- Joseph), and David Allen (wife- Heather); her seven grandchildren: Matthew Brown (wife- Jessica), Mary Mudd, Joseph Mudd, William Mudd, Emily Mudd, Dawson Allen, and Hadley Allen; and her three great-grandchildren: Braden Brown, Parker Brown, and Ryder Brown. She was lovingly known as “Nana” to all of her grandchildren and great- grandchildren.

It is impossible to summarize such an amazing life in one short page. Those who knew her well, know how private she remained until the very end. Lynn never wanted to be in the spotlight- she always directed the attention to everyone around her. She was always there for you if you needed her, always happy to lend a helping hand and the best Mother, Grandmother and friend anyone could have.

She loved to laugh, had a great sense of humor, enjoyed phone calls with her children and grandchildren, always came to the grandchildren’s special events: graduations, cheer and dance competitions, family trips to Disney World, sharing Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter with the family, sharing special family recipes and especially sharing her delicious German Christmas cookie recipes. We are all better off for having had her in our lives. 

We are grateful that her family could be with her as she passed from this earthly world into the hands of God.

Looks like we have run out of time… there will be stories to tell another day.

As her family knows all too well… all will be revealed in the end!

Family is planning a celebration of Lynn’s life in Atlanta, GA, February 23rd, 2025 - details to follow. 

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her name to the charity of your choice