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| June 5, 2018 1:00 AM

Beverly J. Allen, 92

Beverly J. Allen, age 92, died on Monday, May 28, 2018, with the presence of family in Salem, Ore. She was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Ray and Ethel McCune, on Dec. 6, 1925. She was the second to the youngest of six children.

She married her high school sweetheart, Don Kuhn, who served his country as an Army Ranger during WWII. Together they had a daughter. He gave his life for his country at the Battle of D-Day and Bev was widowed at a young age.

She moved west to California in the late ’40s where she met her husband, Harold Messersmith. Together they had a second child, and soon after moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Later she married Walter Allen, who was the owner of a drug store and gift shop in Coeur d’Alene. She resided in the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, Wash., areas for over 60 years. For much of her career, she worked in retail. She retired from The Bon/Macy’s in the late ’80s. She spent many years as a volunteer, devoting her time to community services and volunteering at Kootenai Medical Center and also helping with voter registration and various church activities.

Bev and her late husband frequently traveled to the Oregon Coast, where she enjoyed combing the beaches for seashells and listening to the sound of the ocean. She loved to play games and was especially skilled at Scrabble and Pinochle. She would meet regularly with her neighborhood friends for potlucks and games.

She loved watching her grandchildren grow up and playing make-believe games with them. She sewed doll clothes and made doll furniture for her grandchildren. She was an artist and was very skilled at sewing and cooking. Her quick wit and sense of humor were infectious. Her stories about growing up in Iowa were always entertaining.

Bev was preceded in death by her parents; siblings, Gerald, Pauline, Carol and Ethel; and husband, Walter Allen. She is survived by an older sister, Janice, aged 95. She will be lovingly remembered by her children, Patricia Hamby and Penny (Dave) Strand; and her grandchildren, Teri (Mike) Valois, William Hamby, Carissa (Chad) DeYoung and Nathan (Amber) Ertner; as well as her eleven great-grandchildren; great-great grandchildren and step-children.

A celebration of Bev’s life will be arranged in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, at a later date.