Elaine Logan-Allen, 80, a resident of South Bend, Ind., and longtime resident of Oak Park, died on Dec. 15, 2010. Born in Roundup, Mont., on Feb. 18, 1930, to Tyner and Zae Allen, she was raised by her grandparents, Hubbard and Amy Allen in Roundup. She attended Roundup High School and the University of Montana at Missoula, then married Roger Munn on May 5, 1950. In 1975 she completed her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Elaine’s views of neighborhood development and stability were influenced by jobs with the Iowa City Planning Department and the American Society of Planning Officials. She subsequently owned, managed and lived in an apartment building on the south side of Oak Park for 35 years and considered this to be an extension of her commitment to a stable, thriving, and racially integrated community. Many of the people who lived in her building benefited from lively interactions with Elaine and came to view her as a dear friend. Wednesday Journal’s first office was located in the basement of her building at 107 Harrison St.
Elaine had longtime associations with Third Unitarian Church of Chicago (becoming a member in 1970), as well as the Hemlock Society and the Democratic Party. She was thrilled to be able to vote for Barack Obama when he ran for the Illinois State Senate and again in the 2008 presidential primary and election.
She loved books, writing and reading, and persevered even with her later loss of vision by listening avidly to audio books. Another aspect of her interest in words was her work at Wayne State University in Detroit, developing a writing program and tutoring individual students on their writing skills. She continued with individual tutoring on a private basis for many years.
In later years, she developed Parkinson’s disease and eventually moved to South Bend, Ind., to be near her daughter and granddaughters.
Elaine Logan-Allen is survived by her sons, Paul and Kirk Munn; her daughter, Zae Munn; her granddaughters, Charlotte and Emily Munn-Wood; her sister, Natalie Ednie; and her nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be scheduled for a later date. Contributions in memory of Elaine Logan-Allen may be made in her name to the National Parkinson Foundation (www.parkinson.org).
