Allen, Joan

Joan Allen, 86 years old, passed away peacefully in Albuquerque,

NM on June 17, 2017.

She was born on October 4, 1930 to Frank and Inez (Berggren) Gorsuch, and grew up with her seven siblings on an idyllic country estate outside Philadelphia, PA.

She loved animals and the great outdoors, and recalled fondly a summer spent after graduating from high school at her mother’s family ranch in Wyoming (particularly memorable was time spent riding across the prairie on horseback).

She met her husband, who was beginning his career as an Air Force pilot, in San Antonio, TX, where she was visiting family and serendipitously (in terms of meeting her future husband) working temporarily as a formal dance instructor. After two decades of moving from place to place as a military spouse, she brought her family in the early 1970s to settle in the mountains and high deserts of northern New Mexico.

Creative and artistic, unconventional, beautiful, and funny, she had a deep faith in God that carried her through many storms. She instilled in her children courtesy and respect for others, and a love of reading, singing and storytelling. She constantly prayed for all of us, and we will always cherish her birthday cards with the painstakingly drawn red hearts, and the singing of the three-chorus birthday song for each kid annually.

She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Marion Allen, and five childrenGray (Nancy), Bruce (Mary), Sarah (Pete), Lydia (Dan) and Peter (June), her fourteen grandchildrenJessica, Miranda, Daniel, Brenna, John W., Tasha, Laura, John R., Patrick, Levi, Savanna, Skye, Luke and Corey, as well as seven great grandchildren and her sisters Marie and Gloria.

A viewing will be held on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at FRENCH-Lomas from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Inter- ment will follow at 3:00 pm at Santa Fe National Cemetery, 501 N. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe, NM 87501.

Please visit our online guestbook for Joan at www.FrenchFunerals.com