Joan Carol Allen

Joan Carol Allen was born March 2nd, 1939 in the town of Bruce, Wisconsin. She passed into eternal life on the fifteenth of August, the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. She is preceded in death by her beloved husband, William Allen, her baby, Michael, by her parents, Carl and Emma Mayou and by her many siblings: Alice Carlson (Robert), Dorothy Hartley (Robert), Joyce Haigh (Tom), James Mayou, and Ralph Mayou (Ruby). She is survived by her sister Ellen Peterson (Al), and her numerous nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her children: Monica Kolars (Paul), Jenny Murphy (Greg), and Christopher Allen and her grandchildren: Clare Aaker (Josh), Mary Kolars, Sophie Kolars, John Paul Kolars, Vivian D'Amelio (Nicolas) and William Murphy. She also has numerous great grandchildren: Cillian, Siobhan and Catherine Aaker and Rosamund D'Amelio.

She worked for many years using her Home Economics degree from Stout at Minnegasco Company in Minneapolis, creating recipes for the gas range. Later continuing at Hunt Foods in Los Angeles. She continued working at Minneapolis and Columbia Heights schools in Child Nutrition and ended her long career as a Nutrition Director for the Hudson School System.

Her main loves were her husband, family and faith. She adored family life. She was marked by a joyful spirit which lasted throughout her illness, charming her nurses in the hospital. She was devoted to her Catholic faith and had continued learning throughout her eighties. She possessed a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. She and her friend, Mary Zenk,spent over twenty years weekly saying the rosary with the elderly and sick at the two local nursing homes, the Lutheran home and the Kinni home. She was ever faithful to that ministry. She had a generous spirit and the gift of hospitality, always glad to welcome others into her home. She enjoyed her flowers and gardening, and in later years, she absolutely adored the small flowers in her life that brought her so much joy, her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A visitation will be held on Monday, August 24, 2026, beginning at 9:15 a.m. at St. Mary’s Big River Catholic Church, followed by a Rosary at 10:15 a.m., Office for the Dead at 10:30 a.m., and Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow at 12:15 p.m. at St. Mary’s Big River Cemetery. A luncheon and continued time of visitation will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Ridgetop.

Arrangements are entrusted to O’Connell Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services of River Falls. For more information or to share a memory, please visit www.oconnellfuneralhomes.com or call 715-425-5644.