Elizabeth F. Allen, 91, of Vineyard Haven died on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026 at the Navigator Homes in Edgartown. She was predeceased by her husband, Stewart Allen in May of 2008.
Elizabeth was born on April 3, 1935 in Boston as the second daughter of Francis Joseph Turcotte and Alice Mary Whittier. Her older sister Therese Anne Turcotte died on Nov. 3, 1969 from cerebral palsy. Her brother Paul E. Tucotte also predeceased her on Sep. 7, 2003.
Elizabeth attended Beethoven Elementary School and Robert Gould Shaw Junior High School in West Roxbury and graduated from Roslindale High School in June of 1953. She graduated from the Comptometer School in Boston in Dec of 1953 and worked for H.P. Hood and Sons in Charlestown as a payroll clerk. She attended Northeastern University in Boston for one year in 1954 as a biology major, then went back to H.P. Hood and Sons until Feb. of 1956.
Elizabeth met Stewart Allen on Sep 17, 1955 and married him on June 17, 1956 at St. Theresa’s Church in West Roxbury and came to live on Martha’s Vineyard on Tashmoo Avenue from Aug. 1956 until the present day.
She was a “stay at home mother” until the death of her son Thomas in Oct of 1981, when she returned to work for Thomas Hale as an office cleaner and housecleaner; then next went to work for A&P food store, then Cronig’s Market, when it was located on Main Street in Vineyard Haven, and finally at Leslie’s Drug Store from May 1987 until after 2010.
Elizabeth loved animals and nature and found great pleasure in her flower garden. She learned to love music through her husband and had enormous pride in the accomplishments of her son, Christopher, who founded the Martha’s Vineyard Festival Orchestra.
She was the mother of Elizabeth Ann Allen, Christopher Paul Allen and Therese Katherine Wheeler. In recent years, she was attended to with great love and devotion by Mary Bryant Bailey, Christopher’s partner of many years. She was predeceased by her son Thomas Stewart Allen from muscular dystrophy.
She was the grandmother of Joseph R. Wheeler and Sabrina N. Wheeler.
Visiting hours will be held on Friday, Nov 13 from 5-7pm in the Chapman Funeral Home, Edgartown Road in Oak Bluffs. Her funeral mass will be held on Sat, Nov 14 at 11am in St. Augustine’s Church, Franklin Ave in Vineyard Haven and burial will follow in the Oak Grove Cemetery, State Road in Vineyard Haven.
Visit chapmanfuneral.com for online guest book and information.
