Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Allen, James E. April 10, 1958
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Virginian-Pilot  April 12, 1958
James E. Allen, 99, Virginia Beach's oldest resident, died Thursday at 11 p.m. at 
the Virginia Beach Hospital after a short illness.
He was born in Norfolk on Nov. 21, 1858, and was the son of William S. and Mrs. 
Margaret Griffin Allen.  He was educated at the private grammar school conducted 
by the Rev. Robert Gatewood, after which he attended Tuscarora Academy and the 
Norfolk Academy.
His higher education was obtained at Washington and Lee University and, at the 
time of his death, he was believed to be the oldest graduate of the institution 
living.
His father was in the wholesale grocery business in Norfolk and he was associated 
with him for many years.
He will be remembered mainly for his interest in the cultural development of 
Norfolk.  He was a member of Norfolk's first music society, the St. Cecelia, and 
later organized the Norfolk Civic Orchestra.  Some of the members of this group 
later became members of the first Norfolk Symphony Orchestra.
He was a lover of Italian opera and, when a lad in his teens, made his was to New 
York as best he could, being practically without funds, to hear the celebrated 
Adelina Patti sing in Verdi's "Il Trovatore."
"I was unable to buy a ticket," he said last year on his 99th birthday, "so I 
bought standing room and I was so spellbound and thrilled by the beautiful music, 
that I didn't know whether I was standing on my head or on my feet.  From that day 
on, I was a worshipper of classical music."
His interest in classical music never waned and he attended a performance of "La 
Traviata" at the Center Theater on his last birthday.
Mr. Allen was also an accomplished versifier and was constantly writing little 
poems to his many friends.
He was among the earliest members of the Norfolk German Club, a society formed in 
Norfolk after the Civil War for the purpose of dancing the then-fashionable 
German.
He was a member of the Star of the Sea Catholic Church at Virginia Beach, where he 
had made his home since 1893.  He moved there as a summer resident in 1890, and 
then took up permanent residence at the resort three years later.  He was the 
first town treasurer of Virginia Beach.
Mr. Allen's wife, the late Mrs. Lena Keville Allen, died some years ago.  He is 
survived by one son, James E. Allen, Jr., of Pompano Beach, Fla.; two daughters, 
Mrs. R. C. Everett and Mrs. J. Goodenow Tyler, Sr., both of Virginia Beach; eight 
grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
The body was taken to the Cox Funeral Home, where rosary services were conducted 
Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The body will be taken from the funeral home today to Sacred Heart Catholic Church 
for funeral services at 10 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Nicholas J. Habets, pastor 
of the Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Virginia Beach.  Burial will be in St. 
Mary's Cemetery, Norfolk.

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