Born 23 February 1929; Died 26 June 2020
She was just a shade over five feet tall in high heels but impossible to be missed in a crowd. Her voice quickly found an audience; her personality gave her a legion of friends and Kenley an invaluable contributor to village life.
Doreen enjoyed life, the challenges and opportunities that came with them. There were disappointments of course but she treated them as part of a learning curve. Her ability to build lasting friendships and commitments were among the characteristics that appealed to those friends.
Netball provides a classic example of how she coped with the setbacks. She was enthusiastic about the sport during her schooldays and set her sights on a career in the sport after leaving Streatham Grammar. Nature, however, was unsympathetic and she had to be content with a largely off the court role.
She made the most of it, launching her own netball league, helping hundreds of young girls make the grade and become Surrey’s most respected coach. She took great delight in being asked to help out teams a player or two short “right into my 70s”.
The willingness to help or make commitments however big or small was inherent in her character. She was one of the first Kenley residents to volunteer to deliver resident association bulletins in the street where she lived and still occupied the role up to her illness. She felt the delivery service was important because it helped her keep in touch with neighbours and relay any grumbles higher up the line as well as keep a check on residents lined up for quiz nights or other social activities that added to the community spirit and involved neighbour representation.
Doreen and her husband, Ken, gained particular satisfaction from what was probably their most important undertaking, a series of improvements and repairs to the Kenley Memorial Hall, the building at the heart of the village. These works resulted in the hall regaining its status and attraction, particularly post 1970s, when social events, dances, badminton, PT, club meetings, luncheons, dinner parties, a weekly market and exhibition displays were regular activities that boosted the role the KMH could provide.
The Allens seemed to generate a momentum of their own. Gardening was a high priority; they turned their own plot into one of the best in the neighbourhood complete with swimming pool. They were founding members of a local gardening club and were still there at the end when a dwindling membership was unable to maintain the high standard. There was a touching end to Doreen’s final days; she died in Hill House a care home at the bottom of the garden that meant so much to her.
The sight of Doreen holding a Union Jack on Kenley Airfield at the annual Armistice was one of the important events on the Allen calendar. She carried it with pride in all weathers, supported and help maintain the flow of donations down the years. The events surrounding the annual celebrations were of particular importance to her given her wartime evacuation experience. She felt the ‘exile’ contributed to her character building but the bigger influence came from experience. Life as a secretary, office manager and PA to senior executives exposed her to a wider circle of friends and interests.
She quickly identified shortcomings in a village searching for a future, found common interests and was seen as the type of neighbour capable of rising to challenges that defeated others. She had the ideal husband in Ken who provided a skilful pair of hands when needed and protection against male chauvinism. That protection was never needed – Doreen was quite capable of looking after herself and handling the awkward squad.
Doreen and Ken arrived in Kenley to occupy the first house built in the grounds of an Edwardian mansion in Beckett Avenue, one of a number of new developments shaping a ‘new Kenley’. For the next 40 years or so Doreen found her life dominated by change, a host of new friends and made a contribution to a large proportion of Kenley’s social organisations.
Her netball interests and commitment to the sport grew rapidly. She attracted interest as an administrator and veteran willing to help youngsters became a leading figure in the Surrey County Netball Association and was awarded the Sir Laurence Olivier Award by the Netball Principal Officers for her services to the sport.
Down the years Doreen established a network of friends back to her schooldays who shared her interest and attitudes. Her keep fit enthusiasm encouraged these friends to join her intensive walking and tennis groups.
Doreen and Ken drew strength and pleasure from the response to her efforts to give Kenley a fresh lease of life. She took particular pride and satisfaction from the wide circle of new friends who joined them and added to the community atmosphere.
Kenley is mourning the loss of a senior citizen who gave so much and left so many memories.
by Roland Gribben
(An abridged version of the above contribution appeared in the Kendra Summer 2021 Magazine No. 142)
Editor: Tony Heal