Marilyn Holland Allen

Marilyn Holland Allen passed away on January 11, 2025, in Orleans, Massachusetts after a brief illness. She was 91. She was born in Thompsonville, Connecticut on March 7, 1933, the daughter of John Charles Holland and Helen Mason Holland.
Marilyn graduated from Enfield High School and then attended Baypath College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts where she made many life-long friends. She later earned a degree from Framingham State University. During her long and varied career, Marilyn worked as a legal secretary in Boston, and ultimately, as the director of student financial aid at Babson College.
  Marilyn is survived by her son John W. Allen, Jr. and by her granddaughter, Victoria Simpson. She is also survived by two sisters-in-law and many beloved nieces and nephews and their families. Marilyn is predeceased by her husband of 56 years, John W. Allen, Sr., by her daughter Barbara A. Simpson, her son-in-law, Barry Simpson and her brother John M. Holland.
It is difficult to find the words to describe how special Marilyn was to all who knew her. As one niece put it, “Aunt Marilyn was really such an inspiration to me -- to be intelligent and upbeat and eccentric was all okay and actually an advantage!” She had a life-long devotion to cats, Cape Cod, and Coca-Cola, not necessarily in that order. Ultimately, her devotion was to family and friends.
She and her husband retired to Chatham, Massachusetts in1992, where she was active in the Cape Cod Hospital Auxiliary, the Chatham Women’s Club, and the Chatham Garden Club.
A graveside service will be held on Saturday April 12, 2025 at 11:00am at Hazardville Cemetary, Enfield, Connecticut. For online expressions of sympathy, please visit www.leetestevens.com