Marilyn Pauline Allen (Kuhefuss), passed away peacefully on June 1 2026 at the age of 96, having lived a life of remarkable depth and resilience. Born on Dec. 23, 1929, in Queens, N.Y., to William and Pauline Kuhefuss, she became part of a large, boisterous, and close German immigrant family. Her life on Grove Street in Ridgewood Queens became the stuff of legend and family lore.
Marilyn grew up during the Great Depression and World War II which shaped her into the formidable woman she would become. As a teenager during World War II, she worked as an usherette at the storied Majestic Theater in New York City. When victory was finally declared, she was among the jubilant masses flooding Times Square in celebration, knowing that her beloved Bill, a Navy Seabee fighting in the Pacific Theater, was coming home. She had met the love of her life William C. Allen when they were both teenagers, he was working at a carousel in Forest Park Queens, and she was full of dirt and mud having played baseball at a church picnic. She went home to change, put a gardenia in her hair and went back to the carousel. The rest is history. Bill went on to serve with distinction as a Detective with the Nassau County Police Department, and together he and Marilyn created a beautiful life in Massapequa on Long Island, raising their two daughters Lynn and Nancy. Marilyn later moved to Copake in upstate New York, and later to Northgate Senior Apartments in Goshen. She loved her life at Northgate making lasting friendships, playing bingo like a blood sport, and enjoying trips led by the Goshen Senior Center. She told jokes which were so awful they were fabulous, if only because her delivery of them was filled with her own uncontrolled laughter and guffaws.
Throughout her life Marilyn faced tragedy and trials that would have broken a lesser spirit. She was a fighter, tough, tenacious, and indomitable to the last.
Marilyn is survived by her daughters Lynn (Jim) and Nancy (Eddie); her grandchildren Taylem, Kirby, Jeremy, Elizabeth (Luis), Daniel (Caroline), Sean, and Rebekah; her great-grandchildren Leila, Isabelle, Leonardo, and Julieta; her beloved cousins Joseph and Robert; and numerous nieces and nephews, and dear friends. She was predeceased by her husband Bill, sisters Carol and Doris, brother in law Charles Klein, and her parents William and Pauline Kuhefuss.
The family wishes to extend their deepest gratitude to the extraordinary staff at Valley View Nursing Home, whose kindness, skill, and compassion, in caring for Marilyn meant everything.
Services and burial will be held privately at the convenience of the family. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. In Marilyn’s memory, the family would appreciate donations be made to an animal welfare charity of your choosing.