Elizabeth Ann Allen
Aug. 7, 1983-March 27, 2017
Mill Creek, Washington

Elizabeth Ann (Beth Ann) Allen died March 27 in Everett, Washington, after a short hospitalization. She was 33.

A native of Palo Alto, Beth Ann attended Palo Alto High School, where she was president of the Gay-Straight Alliance, sang in the choir and performed in a student production of "The Tempest." At Paly, Beth Ann developed a talent for sweet-talking friends into giving her rides to various local hangouts, such as Denny’s and Mediterranean Wraps (home of her favorite tea and cookies).

As a philosophy major at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Beth Ann impressed her professors with her analytical sharpness and exceptional prose. By the time she graduated in 2005, she had served as a teaching assistant for several undergraduate philosophy courses and tutored fellow students in writing.

Outside of class, Beth Ann enjoyed splashing in tide pools on Santa Cruz’s beaches, talking philosophy with friends, drinking cocktails at the Red Room and eating dessert before dinner. She was one of the founders of the Banana Slug Club, whose sole condition of membership was licking a banana slug. Never one to resist a dare, Beth Ann went first.

After college, Beth Ann attended law school and worked briefly as a paralegal before becoming a freelance writer and editor for the education and technology company Cengage Learning, among other clients.

She met her husband, Olympia, Washington, native Kris Havlak, in 2007. Beth Ann and Kris quickly discovered they shared an innate sense of silliness, a love of LEGOs and a passion for computer games. The couple married on October 16, 2010, at Stanford Memorial Church.

They lived for a short time in Texas, a state Beth Ann vehemently and vocally detested, before settling in the Seattle area, where the climate and politics proved to be a better fit.

Beth Ann had a long-standing interest in historical fashion and, in her 20s, she began collecting and wearing bespoke corsets and hats. Her eye-catching look featured several tattoos—among them, a Harry Potter-themed Golden Snitch and a quote from her favorite band, the Decemberists. Her other creative pursuits included soap-making, collage and cooking.

Family and friends remember Beth Ann as an incandescent presence, a passionate advocate for the marginalized, a lover of all things luxurious and gourmet, a tender soul and an uncompromising believer in the serial comma.

She is survived by her husband, Kris, her parents, Ken Allen and Marcia Allen, her sister, Susie Allen and her beloved dachshund, Backup. A celebration of life will be held in Palo Alto in June.