Beryl M. Allen

     Beryl passed peacefully Tuesday, March 23 at the Southwest Hospice facility.  She was born November 23, 1924 in Berea, OH.  Her name at birth was Beryl Florence MacDonald.  She was given a nickname by the hospital nurses which was “Fifi”.  The name stuck with family members and she was called that name the rest of her life. Her parents were Dorothy E Wooldridge of Berea and William Cecil MacDonald of Mobile, Alabama.                                                                                                                                  

     Beryl’s ancestry, through her mother and maternal grandmother’s family line, can be traced back to a time before the American Revolution. There is knowledge and assumption of a direct connection to the original Jamestown Settlement in Virginia.  Her 4-times great grandfather was a pioneer settler in Cuyahoga County.  Originally, he settled in Euclid Twp.  His children spawned the origins of the farms that once existed on what is today The Cleveland Hopkins Airport, also a section of the Cleveland Metropolitan Park and sections of commercial property along Old Grayton Road north of Brookpark Rd.  The original Grayton Rd. gleaning its name from the ancestral family name of Gray.  

     Her parent’s marriage was short lived.  Her father returned to Alabama and her mother remarried.  Her stepfather’s name was Russell W Millhoane. She became Beryl Millhoane as a young child and carried that name through her childhood until graduation from High School. She enjoyed athletics and played on the Girls Basketball team and played clarinet in the school marching band. She graduated from Berea High School in May of 1942. She attended the Berea churches of Christian Scientist as well as the Congregational Church and The Methodist Church.

     Beryl had 3 siblings: Glenn E Millhoane Sr, Joan D Millhoane [Ciroline/Bartlett] and John B Millhoane.
All three have passed on before her. She was the eldest child. Very late in life she became aware of other half siblings from her father’s second marriage. They are William C MacDonald Jr (deceased), Cora Jeanne MacDonald (deceased), Robert K MacDonald (FL) and Wayne MacDonald (FL).

     Beryl married for the first time in November of 1942. Her husband had enlisted in the Navy because of WWII and Beryl traveled by train to Long Beach, CA where he was stationed. The marriage was short lived, and she returned home to Berea.

     She entered Bowling Green State University to study Equestrianship and Physical Education.  Her love for animals was always important to her. The love for horses when she was a young woman was something she especially cared about. She owned 2 or 3 horse when she was a young woman. Beryl was very much a dog lover as well. She owned probably nearly a dozen different dogs in her lifetime. Those waiting for her with hugs and kisses are Flash #1,2&3, Blackie, Dudley, Si Keese, Tumbleweed, Sandy, Dallas, Samson, and Shadow. Her surviving little girl dog Ginger missies every day.

     Beryl’s college career did not go full term and she traveled Florida in 1946 to visit her cousin, Betty who was living there because of her husband’s military service. She returned to Berea and gave birth to a daughter by the name of Terri Lee. She started a full-time working career around 1947- 48. She worked at the NACA (NASA) complex next to Hopkins Airport for a short time. She then traveled downtown Cleveland and did filing and typing for a businessman located in the old Williamson Building on Public Square. She worked at the Cadillac Tank Plant on the south end of the Airport. and then in the accounts and billing department of the newly established Ford Motor complex in Brookpark. She married and gave birth to a son named Scott in 1954. She divorced shortly thereafter. Between 1954 and about 1970 Beryl worked for several manufacturing businesses. She married and gave birth to son named Michael in 1962. Her marriage ended again. The last place she worked, from about 1970 to 1994 was an industrial contractor by the name of Stevens-Painton Corp. She retired from there at the age of 70. She did office secretarial work most of her life. Also included was some bookkeeping, payroll, purchasing, tax preparation, mailing and receptionist duties.

     Beryl was fun loving and adventurous. She loved traveling and seeing new things. Early summertime trips to Chippewa Lake Park in the 1950’s. A trip to New York City with a girlfriend in the early 1960’s. This was her first ride on an airplane. Trips to Niagara Falls were fun. One time aboard a train and then a bus to the Falls. Summertime excursions to Holiday Lakes for sunbathing, swimming and camping. A trip with son Mike to Arizona in 1975. A 6000-mile trip through the western U.S. on the back of a motorcycle. She was 68 years old at the time. A final big trip cross country aboard an Amtrak train from Cleveland to the West Coast and back with her daughter Terri and son Scott.

    Beryl lived most of her life in northeast Ohio. She is survived by her 3 children: Mrs. Terri L Duktig, Donald Scott Allen and Michael D Allen.

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