Jeanne F. Allin, 89, passed away in her sleep Nov 10th in her Greenville house. Born at home in Louisville, KY on July 6, 1926, she was the oldest daughter of Mary (Wilder) and Francis Hardesty, and granddaughter of former Louisville Police Captain Abe Wilder. She was the widow of Ernest R. Allin.
She graduated from the former Mt. St. Joseph Academy, in Maple Mount, KY, on May 31, 1944, a week before D-Day. Mrs. Allin returned often for Alumnae reunions, most recently in 2014 for her 70th class reunion. She married Milton Verity in 1945 and moved to Pascoag in January 1946. They built their own house by hand off Broad St. which still stands today at Michelle Dr.
Mother of Jeanne M. Verity, Richard M. Verity, and Patricia J. Kellett, she was active in 4H, the Chepachet Grange, and President of the St. Joseph's Altar and Rosary Society.
She returned to school, graduating from RIC in 1964 with a Bachelor of Education and taught elementary students in Pascoag. Wanting to better help her learning disabled students, she set out to learn how. A Master's in Education followed in 1966 from RIC. Mrs. Allin taught special education at Burriville Jr. & Sr. High School and was among a pioneering group in R.I. which actively propagated new teaching methods for special needs children. She helped found the R.I. Chapter of the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities (ACLD) and served as its Vice President for many years, traveling throughout RI educating parents about their rights under new Great Society laws compelling schools to meet their children's needs.
She married Ernest R. Allin in the 1966 and moved to Greenville, raising sons Douglas R. Allin, twins Andrew C. Allin and Christopher F. Allin, and daughter Jennifer C. Allin.
In 1969 Mrs. Allin was Supervising Teacher for the Severely Retarded at Zambarano Memorial Hospital in Burrillville, applying then-innovative techniques to help its patients. Previously just labeled “Retarded”, Mrs. Allin assessed that these patients actually occupied a disability spectrum. She taught the patients to feed and bath themselves and organized field trips to the ocean and summer camp.
She earned a C.A.E.S. certificate from Boston University in 1977 and taught graduate classes in Special Education, mentoring several young women in the field.
Mrs. Allin taught learning disabled children at Bernon Heights Elementary in Woonsocket for 20 years until her 1991 retirement. Her daughter Jennifer followed her into the special education field and now teaches at Cumberland High School.
In retirement, she briefly taught college courses in Little Rock, AR. Back home she wrote fiction and poetry, taught writing at the Smithfield Senior Center, helped edit the 1995 CCRI literary magazine “Community Expressions”, and served as Vice President on the R.I. Board of the National Museum for Women and the Arts. She was nominated and voted unanimously in the ETA chapter of
the Delta Kappa Gamma International Society, an honor society for
teachers".
Besides her seven children, Mrs. Allin had six grandchildren: William E. Bazinet II, Nicole M. Iannuzzi, Melanie L. Kellett, the late Corinne M. Verity, Jennifer E. Kaprielian, and Mathew J. Allin; seven great grandchildren: William E. Bazinet III, Mikala Bazinet, Arianna Bazinet, Michael E. Cardon, Briana G. Lavoie, Alex Iannuzzi, and Ben Iannuzzi; and a great, great grand-daughter: Kloe Lussier. She was the sister of the late Margie Hardesty, Mary Jo Hardesty, the late George Arnold Hardesty and Michael Hardesty.
Her funeral will be Saturday at 8:30 am from the Menard-Lacouture Funeral Home, 127 Carrington Ave. Woonsocket followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 am in St. Michael’s Church, 80 Farnum Pike, Smithfield. Burial will follow in Swan Point Cemetery on Blackstone Blvd. in Providence. Visiting hours are Friday from 4-8 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations may be made in her memory to Home & Hospice Care of RI, 1085 North Main St, Providence, RI 02904 or www.hhcri.org.
www.menardfuneralhome.com