Into a life that spanned nearly a century she wove survival, marriage, motherhood, travel, her love of good food, her family, and kindness.

Allene was born in rural Mississippi, the town of Eupora, the oldest of three daughters, to John Gray Wright and Eunice (Scogin) Wright. Her sister Betty Jean (Meyer) followed two years later. On the day Eunice's third daughter was born Johnie Gray (Hammond), their father was killed in tragic train accident

They were deep into the Great Depression, and the widow lost their family home to outstanding taxes the following year. Her family needed a future.

Eunice packed up her small family and headed to Clarkwood, Texas to care for and be a caretaker of her Grandfather ('Grandsir'), as they say in Texas ...'he had oil money.' Eunice later married Arthur Franklin, who became a devoted father to her three children.

Allene grew up in Corpus Christi, where she met her husband Joe Armstrong at a dance. They set them selves up in Austin, where Joe finished his Electrical Engineering degree, at the University of Texas, she supporting them both. They had three children, Keith, Donna, and Shelly.

With degree in hand, in 1960 they packed into a 1949 Studebaker towing a one wheel trailer, for Santa Clara, California (soon to be known as Silicon Valley).

There were road trips to Allene's parents in the Ozarks of Missouri and to Joe's family in Arkansas. In time their family road trips went international, with Joe's posting to Europe, with Spain (the Alhambra, Altamira), Italy (Pantheon), and Greece (Delphi). Noon always featured an epic lunch of crusty bread and fresh tomatoes.

Allene and Joe parted ways in 1969, she later married Robert Schooler who predeceased her in 2001.

On her own she settled into her San Jose home, enjoying her garden, her cooking, her collection of Depression glass, and family genealogy. All accompanied by long conversations with her two sisters.

She is survived by her sister Johnie Hammond (Ames, IA) her children, Keith Armstrong (Sunnyvale, CA), Donna Armstrong (Albany, NY) and Shelly Albertson (Hilo, HI); her two grandchildren Rachel Welch (Brooklyn, NY) and Avery Albertson (San Diego, CA); two great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Allene's legacy lives in our memories of her kindness, her gratitude, and her desire that we help each other.