Family and friends filled Union Chapel Tuesday morning to celebrate the long life of Marie B. Allen. Ms. Allen grew up in Roxbury but had long ties to the Vineyard, moving to Oak Bluffs full time in 1995, and making numerous important contributions to the Island community.
Ms. Allen died on Feb. 4 at 93 years old. Her family opted to hold the celebration in early summer and attendees came from all over the world.
Her son David Allen gave the opening remarks.
“Many of you are here from Martha’s Vineyard,” he said. “But many are here from Boston, from New York, New Jersey, Georgia, from the state of Washington and all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa.”
Deon Thomas then led the gathering in prayer, setting the tone for a morning of remembering and honoring a woman many said had changed their lives and shaped the Island community. Among other accomplishments, Ms. Allen became president of the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the NAACP in 2004 and received the national organization’s Northeast Region Living Legend Award in 2017.
“I met her about 20 years ago,” Mr. Thomas said. “The pieces are left for us to pick up, and all we can say is she let her light shine so much.”
Before she moved to the Vineyard full time, Ms. Allen owned and operated a secretarial business in Boston for a quarter of a century and held leadership positions at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
As part of the program, attendees watched a slideshow of old photos to the musical accompaniment of Nina Simone’s I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free and a 2021 video interview with Ms. Allen that Linsey Lee conducted for her oral history series at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
In the interview, Ms. Allen explained how she came to buy her summer home in Oak Bluffs, which eventually became her full-time residence. She paid the mortgage, she said, by renting rooms each summer to her friends, many of whom eventually bought their own homes on the Island.
“They were the happiest years of my life. Well, not the happiest, but very happy,” she told Ms. Lee in the video. “We would always have food, people would bring food and listen to music and we’d dance — and it was such a happy time.”
Ms. Allen was involved in many community organizations on the Island, including the Martha’s Vineyard Branch of the NAACP, Island Elderly Housing, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and the Oak Bluffs board of assessors, among others.
Rev. Robert Edmunds, who worked with Ms. Allen while she was a board member for Island Elderly Housing, said she kept the board focused on its mission during its meetings.
“If the conversation wasn’t about improving the lives of our residents, there was this look that came across her face,” Reverend Edmunds told the crowd. “And it was that look that only elderly woman can have, when you know you are in deep trouble and you better work on that right now.”
Many who spoke emphasized how they were individually shaped by Ms. Allen and that the Island community would not be what it is today if it weren’t for her. Carol Fulp offered a poignant love letter to her friend, saying that she would visit whenever she was hurting because Ms. Allen would help her heal.
“When we sat in Marie’s home, we all gained strength from who she was,” Ms. Fulp said. “So many of us are better people because of Marie’s wisdom, sternness and love.”
Toni Kauffman, current president of the NAACP of Martha's Vineyard, highlighted Ms. Allen’s accomplishments as head of the organization, including how the chapter’s membership doubled during her tenure.
Ms. Kauffman also shared aloud a resolution passed by the local branch of the NAACP in recognition of their former president.
“Therefore, be it resolved that the officers, executive committee and members of the Martha’s Vineyard branch bid farewell to our beloved member, Marie B. Allen — a friend. Rest in peace.”
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