Ms. Ginger James Allen

Ginger was born in Van Nuys, California as Ginger Renee James and she lived in Los Angeles for several years before the family moved to Granite, Oklahoma. There, she spent the remainder of her childhood years, eventually graduating from Granite High School in 1983 where she was an active member of the basketball team and a cheerleader. Even though she had left California, she was always very proud of the fact that she was born a “California Girl”.

After high school, Ginger attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) where she was elected into the 1984 homecoming court as a homecoming queen finalist. She also served in the Model United Nations, and was elected to the Student Senate. Ginger was only 18 years old when she was named to be a Delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention, where she received much press attention as the youngest delegate at the Convention.

After a period at SWOSU, she transferred to the University of Oklahoma and graduated in 1986 with a degree in Political Science with a minor in English Literature, after being named to the President’s and the Dean’s Honor Rolls. While at OU, Ginger was also elected to be a Student Congressperson for four semesters and was awarded a Cortez A. M. Ewing Public Service Fellowship in 1986, which sent her to Washington D.C. to be a Congressional Fellow for Congressman Mike Synar.

In 1986, she graduated from OU after only three years of college, and entered law school at the University of Oklahoma, where she was named to the Dean’s Honor Roll and was a member of Phi Delta Phi honor fraternity. She spent a summer abroad in the U.K. at Oxford University in the Comparative Law Program. At OU Law School, she met and began dating Blake Allen, whom she would later marry.

Upon graduation from OU Law School in 1989, Ginger moved to Las Vegas where she practiced law as a litigator with the law firm Thorndal, Backus, Maupin & Armstrong and was elected to the Board of Directors of the Clark County Bar Association. Ginger was also an active member of the Junior League of Las Vegas. While she was proud of her many professional legal accomplishments, Ginger was most proud of her pro bono legal work, which focused on legal needs of lower-income women and children.

In 1995, Ginger was appointed to be a Deputy Attorney General in the Medicaid Fraud Control unit, where she used her considerable litigation experience to prosecute health care fraud in Nevada. Also in 1995, Ginger married Blake Allen, who she had continued to date after law school, and who had moved to Las Vegas to be with Ginger. Ginger and Blake led an active lifestyle, spending weekends hiking, skiing, and road tripping in Nevada and other areas.

In 1997, Ginger left Las Vegas to move to Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, where she founded, owned and served as President of a Papyrus store, located at Penn Square Mall. While in Oklahoma, Ginger and Blake spent a great deal of time with Blake’s parents Bob and Mary, including traveling together, and she cherished this time.

In 2000, Ginger moved to La Jolla, California, where she easily passed the California Bar Exam and re-established her law practice for several years. In 2006, Ginger was excited to give birth to her daughter Celia Somerset Allen, and only 19 months later, in 2007, Ginger was delighted to give birth to her youngest daughter, Juliet Latimer Allen. As Ginger’s minor was English Literature and Blake’s major was English, they thought it was fun to use Shakespearean names for their daughters.

Ginger stopped practicing law to be a full-time Mom and was a frequent volunteer at the San Diego French American School and La Jolla Elementary School which were both attended by Celia and Juliet. Ginger was a planner and was always up for an adventure, so every weekend she would put together a plan to drive to Disneyland, Legoland, Sea World, or various beaches and festivals along the California coast to make sure her girls had a memorable time.

In 2015, Ginger and her family moved to Texas, where she continued to be a full-time Mom for her daughters, with Celia currently attending Parish Episcopal School as a Senior and Juliet currently attending The Episcopal School of Dallas as a Sophomore.

Ginger’s favorite pastimes and hobbies included spending time with her family, visiting her three brothers, reading, playing Jeopardy with her husband (and recently her girls), baking with her daughters, spending mornings in bed reading the weekend New York Times, and traveling to other countries. Nothing made Ginger prouder than her girls and family. She loved Celia and Juliet more than anything in the world. We will miss her fun, loving personality which came with a warm smile for everyone she encountered. We will miss her filling the kitchen and the house with the aroma of home-baked goods, which she loved to make. We will miss her kind-hearted nature, her razor-sharp mind, her adventurous spirit and eagerness to engage in a fiery discussion on anything from politics to the latest movie.

She was preceded in death by her parents Barbara James (Dill) and Ronald James of Granite, Oklahoma and her parents-in-law Robert D. Allen and Mary L. Allen (Conner) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is survived by her husband Blake Allen and daughters Celia and Juliet, three brothers: Jody James and wife Sandy of Lubbock, Texas, Jon James and wife Theresa, of San Angelo, Texas, and Justin James of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and many nephews, cousins, and in-laws.

A Celebration of Life for Ginger James Allen will be held in Oklahoma City at Hahn-Cook/Street & Draper at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 8th.

Ginger supported many charitable organizations. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity and bring a smile to someone in need.