Lois Phelps Allen

1932 - 2025

Lois Phelps Allen

April 5, 1932 - January 10, 2025

Louisville, Kentucky - Lois Phelps Allen, 92, of Louisville, formerly of Somerset, Lexington, and Knoxville, Tennessee, passed away on Friday, the 10th day of January, 2025, at Westport Place in Louisville. Born in Pulaski County on the 5th day of April in 1932, she was the daughter of the late Lee and Luna Ping Phelps, and the widow of Charles Herbert Allen. Raising a family in a time where the paradigm was "the woman behind the man," Mrs. Allen was instead the woman alongside the man. She and her late husband owned and operated several business concerns in real estate, food production, and marketing. These businesses included Smokey Mountain Secrets in Knoxville and in Berea. Anyone that knew her and her husband would tell you that she was the organizational and operational secret to the string of entrepreneurial successes the Allen family enjoyed over the years. Mr. Allen had the big ideas and the strategic vision, but everyone around the office knew that "Miss Lois" kept the ship on course.

While her acumen contributed mightily to the success of the family's businesses, she was not singularly defined by that. She left an indelible mark on her family and the community around her. She raised and nurtured two children and touched the lives of her five grandchildren and her six great-grandchildren. Never allowing herself to forget the humble beginnings of her life, she took to heart the Christian admonition to remember the least among us. Throughout her lifetime, while pouring all of her love and effort into the lives of others, she rarely asked for anything in return. Lois Phelps Allen will always be remembered for her consistent source of love and stability to everyone around her. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her stepmother, Jennie Nunley Phelps, and her nine siblings, Floyd Phelps, Maxine Phelps Hall, George Phelps, Juanita Phelps Hall, Wanda Phelps Sears, Irene Phelps Beasley, Ruth Ann Phelps Hill, Geneva Phelps Colyer, and Nell Phelps.

She is survived by her daughter, Regina Allen Wallace and her husband, Dr. David Wallace, of Shelbyville; her son, Dr. Charles Christopher Allen of Lexington; her grandchildren, Carrie Beth Wallace Candeto and her husband, John, of Orlando, Florida, Patrick Allen Wallace and his wife, Megan, of Arlington, Virginia, Catherine Allen Fackler and her husband, Greg, of Lexington, Mina Christine Allen, also of Lexington, and Mary Kirk Lake and her husband, Sheehan, of Elizabethtown; her great-grandchildren, Conrad Ernest Candeto, William Boone Wallace, Isabella Sophia Candeto, Grady James Fackler, Max Allen Fackler, and Wesley Chase Fackler. The family is grateful for the assistance received from the many caregivers who rendered thoughtful and loving attention to Mrs. Allen.

Funeral services will be conducted at 12:00 P.M., on Monday, the 20th day of January, 2025, at the Hall-Taylor Funeral Home of Shelbyville, with the Reverend David Wallace officiating. Visitation will from 10:00 A.M., until 11:45 A.M., on Monday, the 20th day of January 2025, at the Hall-Taylor Funeral Home of Shelbyville. Interment will be private in The Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky, with the Reverend Emily Collins Badgett officiating. Expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to Hosparus, Post Office Box 35425, Louisville, Kentucky 40232-9892. Arrangements are entrusted to the Hall-Taylor Funeral Home of Shelbyville, and online condolences may be expressed at www.halltaylorfuneralhomes.com.