OBITUARY Mary Adaline Allen March 3, 1927 – October 31, 2018 Mary Adaline Caton Norris Allen of Dallas, TX, passed away on October 31, 2018. She was born in Rich Hill, MO on March 3, 1927 to Goldie Wheatley Caton and Noah Lafayette Caton who were cattle farmers. She graduated valedictorian from Rich Hill High School and later from P.E.O. Cottey College in Nevada, MO.
In 1949, she graduated from The University of Kansas with a degree in nursing. She married Howard Edgar Norris in 1949 and moved to Madison, WI where they had one daughter, Nancy Caton (Norris) Cadigan in 1955. Her early career as a registered nurse included two polio epidemics before the Salk vaccine, private duty (before ICU’s) caring for Guillain-Barre patients in iron lungs, and a TB sanitarium.
It was the Waukesha Memorial Hospital where she found her greatest love, the emergency room. She was widowed in 1965 and returned to Missouri. In 1967 she married Dr. Wm.
H. Allen III and together they shared a love of medicine, music, and antiques. She worked for Nevada Regional Medical Center where she trained and inspired new nurses. By the end of her career she was the assistant director of nursing and in charge of the emergency room.
She also opened the first professional nursing home in Nevada as the director of nursing. She was again widowed in 1979 and moved to Dallas, TX to be near her daughter with whom she was very close. Once in Dallas, she took every tour and lecture offered through the Richland College Emeritus Program.
She was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation and a 50+ year member of P.E.O. International, holding all offices to the state level. She loved piano and took lessons until age 90. One of her greatest joys was being Granny to her two grandchildren, Kathleen (Cadigan) Howard and Trevor Norris Cadigan.
Her curiosity, humor, and joy of life were an inspiration to all who knew her. She is survived by her daughter Nancy Caton (Norris) Cadigan and partner Sharon Gunn, her son-in-law Jerry Cadigan, granddaughter Kathleen (Cadigan) Howard, her grandson-in-law Travis Howard, and a host of cousins, dear friends, and the P.E.O. sisterhood. A Requiem Eucharist with Bishop Burton will be held at 11 am, Friday, November 16, at the Church of the Incarnation.
In lieu of flowers, consider donating to the Trevor N. Cadigan Memorial Scholarship Fund for Digital and Broadcast Journalism at Bishop Lynch High School. igfn.
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