Dorothy Van Allen

Dorothy Jean Van Allen, age 81, passed away peacefully at her home Thursday, August 30, 2007 following a lingering illness. Dorothy was born September 18, 1925 on the family homestead in Columbia Township, near Unionville, the daughter of the late Roy Edith (Vogel) Schweigert, and was a lifelong area resident. She moved to Caro with her parents as an infant and graduated from Caro High School in 1942. Dorothy later attended Olivet Nazarene College for a year and Tuscola County Normal, before starting a forty-two year career as an elementary school teacher in Unionville, Sebewaing, and Caro Schools, where she retired from in 1987 as a special education teacher. She received her B.S. Degree from Central Michigan University, her Masters Degree and Education Specialist Degree from the University of Michigan. Dorothy was united in marriage to Paul D. Van Allen on June 29, 1946 at the Caro Church of the Nazarene, with Revs. J. E. Van Allen and Hugh Putnam officiating. She was an active and lifelong member of the Nazarene Church where she was a choir member and director, a church board member, Sunday school teacher and an elected delegate to the General Assembly of the Nazarene Church in Kansas City. Dorothy was also very involved with various civic groups and boards that included serving on the Caro Board of Education from 1989 until 2000, serving as its President for six years, and the Caro Community Hospital Board from 1985 until 1995. Dorothy loved to read, enjoyed collecting antiques, playing the piano and porcelain painting. Dorothy is survived by her husband of over sixty-one years, Paul D. Van Allen; one son and his wife, Robert and Gareth Van Allen of Surprise, Arizona; two grandsons, Robert and Andrew of Surprise, Arizona and several nieces and nephews.