Betty Jean (Johnson) Allen, a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, Aunt and friend sailed into the heavens on her 90th birthday on Monday, May 20, 2024. Vivacious, beautiful, stylish, charming, witty, and assertive are a small sampling of words that describe this dynamic woman.

She was born in Sylvania, Georgia as the eldest child of the late Lillie Mae Brown Johnson and late Lester Teller Johnson, and was beloved by surrogate father the late Frank Green. She was the eldest child in a large family including her siblings, the late Mamie Lou, the late Lester, Sarah "Poopie", Amos "Bernard", and Willie Pearl.

She grew up in Savannah, Georgia and attended St. Anthony Elementary and Beach High School. She met her late husband, Lawrence Allen through a series of whimsical and mysterious incidents (facilitated by her late brother-in-law, Artis Allen). Their love was inspirational to many and their marriage lasted 40 years and produced two children, Betty Jean Allen Southall (Whendy) and the late Lawrence Allen Jr. (Butch).

Professionally, she held many positions working at Sears-Roebuck (as one of its first Black sales associates in Savannah), as a Bookkeeper in D.C., but the position that came to define her to many friends and community members in Washington, D.C. was as a kosher chef and caterer working for Sue Fischer Catering Company and later on, Windows Catering, both in the D.C. metropolitan area. A Black Catholic woman, she became known around the Mid-Atlantic for her ability to take complex, elevated southern soul food dishes and make them kosher for a wide range of Jewish community members. However, the highlight of her culinary arts was her legendary Florentine Cookies. Most of her children, grandchildren, siblings and in-laws can fondly remember the utter joy and gratitude upon the first bite of those cookies.

She enjoyed her family deeply and cooking was a deep source of expressing love, gratitude, and solidarity with people in her community. She enjoyed throwing dinner parties, playing cards, collecting beautiful jewelry, and doing interior decorating at her home.

She leaves behind many loved ones. Her loved ones who preceded her in ascending to heaven include her husband, Lawrence Allen Sr., her son Lawrence Allen "Butch" Jr., her sisters, Mamie Lou Johnson Miles, and Lester Johnson Wynn, and lastly, her second partner in life, Gaston Sims. She leaves a daughter, Betty Jean Allen Southall, siblings Amos (Karen) Black, Sarah "Poopie" Black, and Willie Pearl Williams. Betty Jean Allen Southall "Whendy", grand children Kamal (Mahdia) Southall, Moksha (Tom) Southall Hodge, Inaam Southall, Muhammad Southall, Ramadan Southall, Yasin Southall, Aminah (Scott) Southall, and Fatimah Southall, great-grandchildren Amirah (Aminah) Southall, Judy-Jean (Moksha) Hodge, Eleanor (Ramadan) Southall, and Sakari (Aminah) Cummings, several nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, and a long list of friends from around the United States and the world.