Now, happily enjoying retirement, our Someone 2 Know spends her time volunteering, writing and traveling. Before that, she had a career that was uncommon for women of her generation; she served in the military. Something, she says, that entirely changed the course of her life.
Meet Susan "Sparky" Allen.
From her googly-eyed ceramic creations and her sparkly nickname, to books filled with memories...
“I don't think I was very happy about my sister coming along,” laughs Allen, showing us a black and white photo of her dad holding a baby while, a toddler herself, she looks on, “Based on the expression on my face,” she giggles.
...it's easy to see that Susan "Sparky" Allen enjoys life with a sense of whimsy and a deep appreciation for family.
"I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and lived there for 16 years."
The family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1969 and Allen says everything changed.
"I think if I had stayed in Minnesota, I would've gone to the University of Minnesota, gotten married and had two point five kids,” Allen laughs heartily.
What did happen is - at the age of 21 - Sparky Allen joined the United States Air Force - on a whim.
"Well, I went in (to the recruiters' office) and said ‘I wanna be a spy’, and he said ‘How do you feel about avionics?’ and I go 'What's that?'"
Avionics are the electronic systems used on airplanes.
So, after some training stateside, "then went to Upper Heyford, R.A.F. Upper Heyford, in England where I worked on the avionics for the F-111E”, an aircraft known as The Aardvark. One of a very few females in her field at the time, Sparky became friends with six other women in the Air Force.
“All of us started on the F-111 program, so we all met in England." To this day, the friends meet up whenever they can. As for her career, after six years in the Air Force, Allen found a new job.
"McGuire Nuclear Station which is outside Charlotte, North Carolina.” There, in 1986, she met her husband Doug Allen.
“Well, he didn’t expect to live long to put up with me for 37 years,” Susan laughs again.
Now both retired, the couple enjoy traveling near and far. In their home you'll find ceramics in all shapes sizes and colors. “I did that for probably 15 years and then I donated my kiln to the UNR Art Department.”
Allen also donates a lot of her time. She made a great many friends while volunteering for years at the Spanish Springs Library. Plus, for most of her life, she has also been an author, which is how her nickname came about.
When I was in high school, I started signing everything S. Parker Kincaid (her maiden name) when I was writing and then my brother - squashed it."
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She has since been - and forever will be – Sparky!
