Shirley Ann Allen

Shirley AnnAllen

Feb. 2, 1935-Nov. 8, 2021

Shirley Ann Allen was born in Enid, Oklahoma, on February 2, 1935. She grew up with her mother, Anna Marina Sherwood Allen and her father, Eugene Bernard Allen along with her older sister, Jean Marie Tuttle. Eugene was a machinist for the Frisco railroad, and they moved around during the Great Depression and World War II, first to Springfield, Missouri in 1937, back to Enid in 1938, and then to Rock Island, Illinois in 1941. They returned to Enid in 1945 and then finally moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1952 where Shirley graduated from Will Rogers High School in 1953.

After graduation, Shirley entered the oil and gas industry working as an accountant at Cabot, then Amerada Hess and Mobil Oil in Denver, Dallas and Tulsa until she retired in 1993. She trained new employees, facilitated workshops, developed computer applications, and managed revenue across multiple states and facilities. She was an active participant in the Tulsa Ski Club, a member of Boston Avenue Methodist Church, a representative to the North Mabee Boys and Girls Club and was a loyal Life member of the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary, joining in 1995. In 2012, Shirley moved to Austin, Texas to be closer to her sister and family.

Always having a keen sense of humor and a raucous laugh, Annie, as she was often called, loved to keep in touch with friends and family. She was an avid traveler, and there were not many places in the world she didn't visit on the many cruises and tours she took over her lifetime. She visited New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Singapore, Hong Kong and China along the Yangtze River, Alaska, Russia and Baltics, Norway, Sweden, Finland, sailed through the Panama Canal and along the South American West coast including Peru, South Africa where she went on an African Safari and took lots of photos of animals, up the River Nile, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, England, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and along Danube River to Budapest. She spent the 4th of July in 2000 on the QE2 in New York Harbor.

Shirley passed away on August 11, 2021, in Austin, TX while recovering from knee replacement surgery and from complications due to COVID-19 during the pandemic. Shirley is survived by her big sister, Jean Marie Tuttle; and nephew, Tyson Tuttle of Austin, Texas. A celebration of her life will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, OK at 2 p.m., on Saturday, March 25, 2023.