Lillian Gray Rivers Allen

BRADENTON, FL - Mrs. Lillian Gray Rivers 'Billie' Allen, 88, of Bradenton, Florida, formerly of Wadesboro, NC and Laurens, SC, died Monday, January 20, 2014 at the Tidewell Hospice House in Bradenton, FL. Funeral services will be 2:00PM Saturday at Leavitt Funeral Home, Wadesboro, NC. Interment will follow in Eastview Cemetery. The family will greet friends beginning at 1:00PM. Billie was born March 18, 1925, in Raleigh, NC. She received her B.A. degree in Art Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and taught art in Durham, Wadesboro and Laurens. Billie was a former president of the Laurens County Arts Council and the Laurens County Historical Society. She was nominated by the Arts Council for the Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award for her promotion of the arts. Billie also served on the executive council of the Confederation of SC Historical Societies and received their prestigious Robert N. Pryor Volunteer Service Award in 1993. She was the director of the restoration of the historic Octagon House in Laurens and director of an archaeological survey of the ancestral home site of Ann Pamela Cunningham, who organized the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association of SC. As a result of her work and effort, many buildings and sites in Laurens County were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Survivors include: her daughters, Edna Allen Early and Jane Allen Myers both of Bradenton, FL, and Cathy Allen Nutting of Erie, CO; a son, Dr. Benjamin G. Allen of Dahlonega, GA; 10 grandchildren; and 2 great-grandchildren. In addition to her parents, Billie was preceded in death by her husband, Charles I. Allen, Jr., MD. Memorials may be made to the Ben & Lillian Gray Rivers Scholarship Fund, South Piedmont Community College Foundation, PO Box 126, Polkton, NC 28135 or to the Billie & Charles I. Allen, Jr., MD Family Scholarship Fund, c/o Wake Forest Baptist Center, PO Box 571021, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1021.