Obituary of Lina Lea Lusk Allen

Lina Lea Lusk Allen, age 90, a retired teacher, went to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on February 14, 2021, and heard the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”Lina was born in Houston on December 26, 1930, to Richard Edward and Edna Klingensmith Lusk. The family moved to Louisiana in 1931. Lina graduated from Byrd High School in Shreveport in 1947 and received a bachelor’s degree in English, Spanish, and secondary education from Stephen F. Austin State University, in Texas, in 1951.In 1950, Lina married Radford B. Allen, Jr. They moved to west Texas, and their son, Drew, was born in 1951. Radford’s work transferred them to Corsicana where Lina taught at Corsicana High School. After moving to Fort Worth in 1961, and they adopted their daughter Ann in 1964.In 1973, Lina received a master’s degree from TCU in educational supervision and reading. She then became curriculum director for the TCU Upward Bound Program. Continuing her education at the University of North Texas, she served as a student teacher supervisor in the mid-cities area and worked one year in the education department at the Federal Correction Institution. Lina received a doctorate in secondary curriculum, instruction, and reading from the University of North Texas in 1979, the same year her husband was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood.Lina taught in many places: Howard Payne University, English as a second language to refugees at Catholic Charities, and volunteered at her granddaughter’s elementary school. Many of her students stayed in contact with her, some until the last year of her life. Lina served in Baptist churches, teaching, and supervising all levels of adults and children. In the Episcopal church, she supported her husband’s ministry, designed, and wrote teaching materials, prepared children for confirmation, directed Sunday School and taught adults. In her later years, prayer was her church work.Lina was active in the community serving in PTAs, Cub Scouts, Blue Birds, the Republican party, and providing school uniforms for FWISD children. She belonged to the National Honor Society, Alpha Chi and Phi Delta Kappa honorary fraternities, Alpha Xi Delta sorority, and Daughters of the American Revolution.Lina had many interests including genealogy, antiques, returning family pieces to small museums in their places of origin, and traveling the United States with her husband to Navy reunions. She consistently maintained contact with friends and colleagues from every stage of her life, many of whom considered her a second mother. Lina was an extrovert and her friends considered her vivacious and humorous. She never met a stranger and believed all people were worthy of love and respect.The family misses her but is happy she is with the Lord and her husband. The family would like to recognize the staff at James L. West Center for Dementia and Community Hospice for being a friend and caregiver this past year.Lina’s husband of 68 years, Radford B. Allen, Jr.; her parents; her sister, Doralyn Luse; her son, Radford Drew; and her nephew, Lloyd Beckham, preceded her in death. She is survived by her daughter, Ann Katherine Allen; her favorite granddaughter, Elena Katherine Allen; her nephew and wife, Gary and Donna Luse; her niece Dana Beckham; her great nephew Brandon Luse; her great niece, Tiffany Upshaw, and her children, Ellie and Hayes Upshaw; and her great niece and her husband, Lindsey and Chris Melancon.