Orel Kay Lee Allen passed away on November 7 at Maple Springs of North Logan, according to a November 12 report by the Logan Herald Journal. She was 92 years old when she died with her family members present.
Born on August 15, 1934, in Panaca, Nevada, to James Irvin Lee and Alice Otilla Gubler, Orel Kay was the fifth of five children. Her granddaughter, Jenny, described her as a beautifully complicated mind and a fighter with a sharp, sassy wit who was fiercely loyal to her heritage and her news clippings.
Orel Kay was the valedictorian of Lincoln County High School, where she also lettered as a cheerleader and majorette. She later attended Brigham Young University, where she met her husband, John Whorton Allen. The couple married at the St. George LDS Temple on June 17, 1953.
The family resided in various locations, including Norfolk, Virginia, and Garfield County, Utah. While her husband, Whorton, worked as a teacher and counselor in Panguitch, Utah, and later as a professor at Utah State in Logan, Orel Kay worked for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, receiving numerous recognitions for her work.
Later in life, Orel Kay and Whorton lived and worked in Japan, where they taught English at a private girls' university in Kumamoto. Orel Kay was a poet, a reader, and a writer who also served as a temple worker at the Logan LDS Temple, working in the sealing office.
Orel Kay was preceded in death by her husband, John Whorton Allen, her parents, her siblings, her son-in-law Jim Siler, and her daughter-in-law Venice Allen. She is survived by her children Randal, Karen, Weston, and Brenda, along with sixteen grandchildren and thirty-four great grandchildren.
A family service for Orel Allen is scheduled to be held on Saturday, November 14, 2026. Memories and condolences may be shared at www.allenmortuaries.com.
