She was born Shirley Jean Mumphrey (or Taylor, depending on where you look) on June 23, 1937 in Kilgore, TX. The youngest of 6 children from Delilah Mumphrey. Cleveland Taylor, a cook, was her father. She carried the last name of her mother. She attended North Chapel high school, and then attended Tyler Junior College for two years.
Shirley loved music. She aspired to be a great pianist like her mother. But Delilah Mumphrey’s talent on the 88s was unsurpassed. So Shirley gravitated to the marching band, where she played the clarinet. She continued to play some piano, but only casually on occasion.
Eventually, she moved to the big city of Dallas, TX. She worked at Parkland Hospital as a ward clerk. Shirley was a natural beauty, with no makeup. With long legs, a rockin’ afro, and a classy-sassy fashion sense that caught the eye of the smart, handsome, Jamaican chemist, Larkland Allen. They were married in February of 1961. They raised 3 children – Sybil Allen, Charlotte (Allen) Jones, and Donald Allen.
Much of Shirley’s professional career was spent in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD). Whether she was the Pinkston High School principal’s secretary, or the Athletic Director’s secretary at the DISD Administrative office, she was DISD through and through. Some say she should have been a teacher. If you ask her family, she already was.
She was mom to Sybil, Charlotte, and Donald. She was Jean at the office – because there were 2 other Shirleys working there. But she was Mama Shirley to many – grandkids, great-grandkids, nieces, nephews, friends’ kids, you name it. She loved to get kids thinking and reading. She taught them to write, to spell, to play piano, anything to keep them learning. It was not beyond her to make her grandkids read encyclopedias!
And then there was her love of animals. Though she grew up with farm animals, that did not make her any less fond of pet animals. She rescued cats and dogs. But she also allowed her kids to have fish, hamsters, birds, salamanders, rabbits, and pet mice! If it had a tail, it was in the Allen household at one time or another. And she was crazy about every single one.
If you knew Shirley Allen, you knew that she loved her family, loved the bible, loved to make people happy, and loved being around (anyone’s) kids. And if she made you smile, worked with you, taught you how to do something, prayed with or for you, then you have been touched by a truly magnificent, caring woman. One who will be truly missed by so many. God has another angel. Keep watching over and smiling over us Shirley. We love you.
Shirley is survived by husband, Larkland Allen; daughters, Sybil Allen and Charlotte Jones; son-in-law, Ralph Jones; granddaughters, April Snyder and Amber Cross; grandson-in-law, Jeffrey Cross and great-grandkids, Jade Kyle, Adonis Kyle, Joshua Snyder, and Ares Cross.
