Our beloved mom Terri Allen passed away peacefully on February 8, 2025 at the age of 97. Terri was born in Los Angeles, California in 1927 and was raised in Trona, a company-owned mining town in the Mojave Desert.

After graduating from high school in Trona, she moved to Berkeley and attended the University of California, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1949. She was in the Sigma Kappa sorority at Cal. She met her future husband, Don Allen, at Cal, and they were married in 1950 and lived in the Bay Area. The marriage ended in divorce. Terri worked as an administrative assistant in Menlo Park for many years and raised their three children, Leslie, Curt and Paul, as a single mom. After she retired, she moved to Grass Valley in 1999.

Terri was an active and dedicated member of the Baha’i Faith, and she served on the Baha’i Local Assembly as Secretary and as Treasurer for over 30 years. She was an avid reader and loved books about different cultures, societies and stories from around the world. She was a person of profound integrity and a strong sense of justice, and she stood up for and supported human rights and the oneness of humanity.

Terri is survived by her daughter Leslie Platner and son-in-law Paul Platner of Grass Valley, and her son Paul Allen and daughter-in-law Laura Allen of Emerald Hills. Terri’s son Curt passed away in 2018. Terri was a native Californian, “memah” and “purple nana” to six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and lived a long happy life, from the great Mojave Desert to the gold-rich Sierra foothills.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at 1 p.m. at Unity in the Gold Country Spiritual Center, 180 Cambridge Ct, Grass Valley.

For those wishing to make charitable donations in Terri’s memory, please consider Hospice of the Foothills.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/terri-allen-obituary?id=57546311

Terri’s father was a chemical engineer. They lived in Trona from at least 1930 to 1950. She had a younger brother, William, who passed away in 2006.

According to the 1950 census the Durland’s lived at 306 Lupine St

The 1945 yearbook says Terri’s nickname was “Te De”. Terri probably went to elementary school in the old elementary school on Main St. and then I suspect she may went away to school and came back to finish school when Trona High School was completed in 1942.