Merry Lewis Allen, 79, of Charlottesville, died Friday, July 21, 2006, in a local care facility. 

Born February 24, 1927, in Mechums River, Virginia, she was the daughter of the late Richard D. Allen and Irene Barksdale Allen.

Miss Allen was a 1944 graduate of Broadus Wood High School in Earlysville and a 1951 graduate of the College of William and Mary. She earned graduate degrees at the University of Illinois, Champagne, Illinois, and the University of Virginia.

She was a mathematics educator and taught at Albemarle High School from 1954 to 1959, and at Longwood College from 1960 to 1992. While at Longwood she served as head of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science for twenty years. Upon her retirement in 1992, she returned to her home in the Charlottesville area. She enjoyed gardening (vegetables and flowers), traveling, and working in Chestnut Grove Baptist Church where she became a member when she was a young child.

Surviving her are two sisters, Irene Turner of Powell, Tennessee, and Frances Schlanger and her husband, Arthur, of Glenview, Illinois; two nephews, David Allen and Richard Turner; and two great-nephews.

A graveside funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on Tuesday, July 25, 2006, in the Chestnut Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Earlysville, with the Rev. John O. Barksdale officiating.

The family will receive friends from 7:00 to 8:00 pm today in the Hill and Wood Funeral Home.

The family suggests that any desired memorial contributions be made to Chestnut Grove Baptist Church, 554 Buck Mountain Road, Earlysville, VA 22936 or Merry Lewis Allen Scholarship Fund, Longwood College Foundation, 201 High Street, Farmville, VA 23909.

Friends may sign the guest register at www.hillandwood.com