Mary VanAllen Obituary

Van Allen
Mary F. Van Allen
June 11, 1950
September 11, 2025

Mary F. Van Allen reunited with her husband of nearly 50 years after her three-month battle with uterine cancer. The world lost a vibrant, determined soul, and the state lost one heck of a soccer referee.
Mary was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, to Stella (Bartusiewicz) and Stephen Kalus. She grew up learning to play the piano and found her beautiful singing voice. She excelled in education, skipping a grade to graduate a year early from high school. During her teen years, she joined her school's Girls and A Cappella Choirs and became a National Honor Society member. She attended Prairie State College, also in Chicago Heights, and graduated with an associate degree in Applied Science. After college, she moved to Nebraska and worked days at Commercial Credit Corporation and evenings at Acme Piano and Organ, being a gifted pianist herself.
In 1971, she met her future husband, Doug, when he was assigned to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. Mary's friend asked her to attend a beer fest to meet two officers. Much to her surprise, they arrived to find these gentlemen courting a beer maiden from the festival. Despite this memorable first "date," she married the Boeing B-52H Stratofortress strategic bomber crew member on Nov. 4, 1972. When Doug was stationed at Hellenikon Air Base, Greece, the young couple enjoyed multiple trips around Europe creating questionable, but entertaining memories of their adventures. They returned to Omaha in 1977 and had two children. Doug retired from the Air Force in June 1980, and the family moved to Monument, Colorado, where they welcomed their third child.
In Colorado, Mary became a soccer referee for multiple age groups and across multiple regions. Oh, the stories she would tell (the stories coaches and players would tell) about her exploits! Woe to those who cursed on her field, had the audacity to say "Holy cow!" or began a chant of "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how do you ref your games?" She enjoyed not only refereeing soccer, but also being a referee instructor and assigner. Her soccer career lasted over 30 years.
In June this year, on her 75th birthday, one month after her last (unbeknownst to everyone) soccer game, doctors diagnosed her with aggressive stage four uterine cancer. To top off that very special day, she returned home to a jury summons. Happy birthday, Mary!
Family and friends drew together to consistently care for and support her... sometimes much to her annoyance ... but every smile or wonderfully Mary-esk gesture and phrase brought a bit of happiness to all involved. She faced every day with a wonderful oft-quoted mentality: "Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says, 'oh sh*t, she's awake!'"
From an evening stint as a go-go dancer to a your-reputation-precedes-you soccer referee, Mary tackled life, either scaring or awe-inspiring everyone she met along the way. While the family will grieve this irreplaceable loss, there is comfort in knowing that she's headed upstairs to be with Doug and other loved ones.
Mary was predeceased by Doug, her parents and three brothers. She is survived by her daughters Elizabeth Van Allen, Jean (Terry) Duggan, Lisa (Jacob) Bowers, brother Thomas Kalus, grandchildren Celia and Adelyn Bowers, plus beloved in-laws, cousins, nieces and grand-nieces and nephews.
Mary's green thumb was legendary; she loved plants and flowers. She also loved soccer, music, animals, etc., so please donate to a cause that speaks Mary to you such as the American Youth Soccer Organization (https://ayso.org/donate-to-ayso/), Colorado Springs Conservatory (https://coloradospringsconservatory.org/donate/) or a charity of your choosing that represents your best Mary memory.
Services will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025 at St. Peter Catholic Church, 55 Jefferson St., Monument, CO: 9:30 am visitation, 10 am Rosary, 10:30 am Mass, 11:30 a.m. reception at the Parish Ministry Center, Interment at 2 pm at Pikes Peak National Cemetery, 10545 Drennan Rd., Colorado Springs, CO (www.trilakesfuneral.com).