Sarah Naomi Peelle "Sallie" Allen

Sarah "Sallie" Naomi Peelle Allen Born Dec. 25, 1922, in a house in Glenora, NY on Lake Seneca. She died peacefully in San Francisco on May 24, 2008. She was 85. Sallie is survived by her husband of 62 years, David W. Allen, MD; her children, Brockenbrough Schuyler Allen, PhD and his wife Barbara; Terence Beckington Allen, MD, and his wife Kim Thorburn, MD; Stonewall Sproule Allen; and Sarah Elizabeth Allen (Lissa), MD and her husband Jim Blagg; her grandchildren, Celeste Allen, MD and her partner Mike Krumboltz; Sophia Genone, MA and her husband, James Genone, PhD; Elizabeth Kristine Blagg; and David Barnier, JD; her quasi-daughters, Susan Hogeland and her partner Nancy Mazza; Kristine Krozek and her husband, Phil; and Kristin Razzeca, MD, and her partner, Steve Walsh, MD; her cousin Joseph Sproule; and many friends at The Sequoias of San Francisco. Sallie was the daughter of James F. Peelle, Sr. and Mary Ann Sproule. She was the third of four children, born 18 months after brother and sister twins. Sallie's father was a flour miller in upstate New York. He formed the Peelle Company with his brothers, manufacturing fireproof doors, dumbwaiters and escalators. Sallie grew up in Richmond, IN. Her mother's sisters, Sallie and Betty Sproule, were school teachers and played a formative role in Sallie's life, caring for her and her siblings each summer in upstate New York in a house with no electricity or running water. Sallie went to Northwestern University where she met David in her freshman English class. She was a Pi Beta Phi, a Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum laude with a BS in business psychology and personnel management. Sallie was a renaissance woman. She could wire a lamp and could host a great dinner party. She was an accomplished pianist and enjoyed accompanying many young musicians. She was not a particularly good athlete, but she was an avid exerciser. She loved going on walks, often studying local architecture. She led and promoted the Tai Chi group at The Sequoias and loved the evening "pub" held daily on the mezzanine of her building. Sallie championed hard-working, under-recognized workers. She was proud of the secretarial field, and worked hard to become a certified professional secretary. She and David went to Russia during the height of the Cold War and met illegally with Jewish dissidents. She loved speaking with young people and thought of them as friends. She was a book lover, editor and founder of Redactors' Press. She was a stickler for grammar, punctuation and definitions-she kept an Oxford English Dictionary by her bed. She worked hard to stay proficient at the computer. She encouraged many people of her era to write their life stories and helped them edit their manuscripts. She loved her friends' achievements and enthusiastically shared them with others. She was very organized, practical and forward thinking, trying to do everything before it became necessary. In 1985, Sallie and David played an important role in formulating legislation regarding doctor-patient confidentiality in addressing the famous Tarasoff case, so that the law was minimally destructive to effective psychotherapy. David and Sallie were the first couple to receive the California Medical Association James C. MacLaggan Political Action Award in recognition of this work. Sallie also received the University of California San Francisco Medal, the highest honor awarded by the university, honoring her as an activist in mental health and child care issues. In the days prior to her death, Sallie engaged in her normal activities. She was watching the Democratic presidential race with great interest, reading Jane Fonda's autobiography, and trying to ensure the pigeons didn't get too much from the bird feeders placed outside the dining room of The Sequoias. Saturday evening she chose the manner of her death. A Memorial Service will be held to celebrate Sallie's life at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco, 1187 Franklin St, SF, June 28, 2008, 3:00 pm. A reception will follow at 4:30 pm at The Sequoias, 1400 Geary Blvd. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Sequoias Employee Gift Fund, to honor the hard-working people who cared for Sallie and David for the last 19 years.