Marin Women's Hall of Fame

Etta Allen
By Nancy Nakai

    Etta  Allen  remembers  her  paternal  grandfather  as  a  person "committed to community service".  The same can certainly be said of this  1988 Honoree  of the  Marin Women's Hall of Fame.   It is Etta  Allen's  contributions  to  numerous  local  non-profit and educational  institutions,  as  well  as  her  success  in a non-traditional profession, that has made Ms. Allen a  role model for Marin women of all ages. 

    Ms. Allen  was born  in Santa  Fe, New Mexico - the only child of two young parents.  As a young girl she was enrolled in a convent boarding  school.  She  studied  in  convent  schools until high school, when she attended  St. Vincent's  in Vallejo, California-her first  experience in  co-education.   The nuns had a profound effect on Etta.  Her training at the convent schools  is one that Etta  values,  as  they  emphasized  time  organization and self-discipline as important talents.  The atmosphere of the school was one that  encouraged academics.    "It  was okay to be smart," and Etta is proud of her strong performance in  school.   But most of all,  Etta  values  the  lesson  of  "God  would not give you the challenges with out the wherewithal to solve them"  as key  to the positive  outlook  that  has  helped  sustain  her throughout the years. 

    Growing up, Etta had two  loves: airplanes and writing.   Etta showed her ability to succeed in non-traditional fields when, as a teenager, she  got  her  pilot's  license.    That  the pilot instructors kept  trying to  discourage her only strengthened her resolve to fly.  Etta planned  on attending  college and  had the intention of  a career  in aviation.  Yet, after high school, she met and married Jim Allen.   Jim  had  attended  San  Rafael High School, and  they settled  in Marin County.  Soon, the Allen's had two small boys, Jim and Craig.

     While the boys were still  quite  young, the  Allen's  decided to start their own business.  Etta was very involved in the creation of the business, a  heating  and  air  conditioning  company, and planned to  help only  until the  business grew to the point that hired  assistance  could  be  afforded.    The  Allen  Heating  & Sheetmetal Company  was located  in Fairfax  and headquartered at their home.  Etta  ran  the  office  and  did  anything  that was needed,  including  off-site  construction estimates to potential clients.    The  business  thrived  and  Etta  began  to  plan to "retire".  

    This  success  story  was  cut short by Jim's untimely automobile accident  which  severely injured his leg, and made his recuperation last over three months.   Etta kept the business going.  Before leaving the hospital, a small growth on Jim's neck was tested  at the  request of  the doctor.   Within  a week, Jim Allen was in Stanford Hospital with a diagnosis  of lymph cancer, facing the news that he had just six months to live.

     Etta was  now faced  with the  prospect of financially supporting her family.  She knew that she would not be able to pay the bills on a secretarial or bookkeeper salary.   Knowing that she could get all the additional information she needed to run the company from her  husband,  Etta  decided  to  continue with Allen Heating and Sheetmetal.  This transition  process  was  helped  by  the lymph cancer going  into remission  - a  fact that doctor attributed to the Allen's  determination that  Etta be  able to  proceed in the business without  Jim.  Years of endless eighteen-hour days spent sheetmetal contracting and  commuting  to  Stanford  Hospital for cancer treatments  followed.   Following Jim's  death, long hikes, claims Etta, helped her to rebuild her sense of inner strength.

    Now Etta Allen was faced with a new  challenge.   For years Allen Heating and  Sheetmetal had been licensed under Jim's name.  That now had to be transferred to Etta's name.  She  was informed that she  would  not  be  able  to  take the contractor's license exam without  having  filled  the  apprenticeship  requirements.    As apprenticeships were  virtually denied  from women, this maneuver would  have  made  it  impossible  for  her  to  continue  in the business.  Through persistence, patience and sheer pluck, she was finally  allowed  to  take  the  heating  and  ventilation  exam.  Commenting on  this period  of her life, Etta claims that she was too busy focusing on providing for her family to worry  about the obstacles that  kept being  thrown in  her direction.  She stayed herself,  she  says,  stayed  committed  to  the  quality  of her contracting work,  and hence  did not put people on the defensive by bounding them with aggressive tactics.  "Difficult  times have never  thrown  me,"  she  claims,  "because  I  guess  I  take  a philosophical point of view about things."

     As she looks back  over  her  life,  Etta  sees  some unfulfilled dreams.    She  would  like  to  increase  her level of community service(!).  She would also like to see Marin County be  able to provide the  best possible  education for  its citizens.   She is concerned with the recent political trends of candidates entering the elections  process with  their own personal agenda instead of focusing on the real needs of their constituency.

    In  her   leisure  time,   Etta  enjoys  hiking  around  her Sonoma vineyard which  she bought  in 1970.   Located in Glen Ellen, the forty acres now yield "good grapes" and serve as "my retreat, my therapy and my balance".  She  enjoys the  times she  spends with her family  both at  work (her sons have both joined her at Allen Heating and Sheetmetal Company) and at play -  especially her two grandchildren.

    When asked  what she  has learned  over the  years that she would like  to  share  with  women,  she  replied,  "As  we  enter more executive roles,  we must  not lose  sight of  who we are and our feminine side - the caring, intuitive side."

Written  1993