Community Leader Terrie Ann Allen Passes Away

A loving person with a huge heart, Terrie Allen cared for her friends and her community and lent a helping hand to whoever needed it. She was a scrappy fighter and her red hair matched her fiery personality, especially when it came to standing up for all manner of injustice, particularly racial injustice. A staunch advocate for the underserved community in the City of Pasadena, where she resided for nearly four decades, Terrie effected change in many ways, whether it was fighting a potentially detrimental building development in her neighborhood, organizing multi-cultural events, supporting progressive candidates or opposing a biased educational program.

Allen’s list of volunteer achievements in Pasadena is long and impressive. Her first volunteer position was with the All Saints Aids Service Center, where she staffed the hotline, fund-raised, and generally did what was needed.

In 1994, Terrie co-founded the Villa Parke Neighborhood Association, an association with renters and homeowners. By bringing these two groups together, the association was able to combat issues that created an unsavory environment for local families. Since there were two dominant languages spoken in the area, Terrie insisted all meetings and printed materials were in a bi-lingual format, which helped build a bridge of understanding and respect between the residents. For several years, she hosted an annual “Swim and Eat” party in conjunction with “Youth Month” activities where neighborhood children and their families had a safe place to swim, eat and enjoy music. In addition, with Terrie’s assistance, the association worked with law enforcement to better provide services to the culturally diverse community.

One of the accomplishments Allen was most proud of was the Oakland Community Garden, which she founded in 1995 and was located in her Villa Parke neighborhood. Through generous donations of land, water, fencing, fertilizer and physical labor, the parcel was transformed into plots that were leased free of charge to area residents, which included residents of the nearby senior living complex. The garden provided valuable supplements for the residents’ nutritional needs and was a place where friendships were forged.

In 1996, Terrie was appointed by then-City Councilman Chris Holden to the City of Pasadena’s Human Relations Commission, where she served for several years and was Chair and Vice Chair. She loved participating on this commission, as it gave her so many opportunities to seek out and ensure equality and inclusion. Terrie was the liaison to the Pasadena Playhouse District where she was in charge of the entertainment on the main stage at the district’s annual Latino Fest, as well as volunteering for the city’s annual Latino History Parade. She assisted with the commission’s annual Peace Through Music concert and Martin Luther King, Jr. celebrations, and spent 3 years as Chair of the city’s Arthur Noble Award Committee, where for the first time, minorities and women were included among the recipients. In 2004, Terrie won the commission’s coveted Harry Sheldon Award for Outstanding Individual.

Terrie served on Pasadena’s Accessibility and Disability Commission from 2001 to 2007, then served again on the Human Relations Commission until 2014, after which she joined the Friends of the Human Relations Commission. Active politically over the years, she volunteered for many candidates’ campaigns including Mayor Victor Gordo, Congressman Adam Schiff and Assemblyman Chris Holden, and was a steadfast volunteer at Assemblymember Holden’s annual summer and holiday community events for years.

Allen lived in and managed the Copa de Oro apartments for decades. She loved her tenants, they loved her, and they became her family. She fostered a tight-knit, supportive community within the complex, organized holiday gatherings, cared for elderly tenants, and often paid rent out of her own pocket for tenants who were unable to pay their rent.

Terrie Allen was beautiful inside and out, a fearless, strong, generous, loving person and she will be sorely missed. In addition to various relatives, Terrie is survived by her dear friends the Browns, her loving and feisty cat Bingo, and a multitude of friends. Rest in peace, only 1 scrappy – her fitting digital name.