Allen Cynthia Stanley (May 9, 1986 - August 31, 2023) was born in Mobile, Alabama on May 9, 1986, to Heidi Hovell Stanley and Michael Ernest Stanley. She is survived by her mother, Heidi Hovell Stanley, and father, Michael Ernest Stanley, brothers Michael Ernest Stanley II and James Lee Xochihua-Stanley (Gabriela Xochihua-Stanley). She is further survived by her grandmother Barbara McNorton Hovell, namesake Aunt Cynthia Hovell Holladay, and Uncle Walter Lee Hovell, Jr (Diana Chambers Hovell), Uncle James David Stanley (Melinda Brannon Stanley), numerous cousins, countless friends, and neighbors. She was preceded in death by her grandparents Walter Lee Hovell, Sr, Earnest Grady Stanley, Jr and Freddia Slaughter Stanley.
Allen moved to Shawnee, Kansas with her family in 1988. She was born with special needs and was always in special ed. She attended grade school there. She moved to Brookfield, Wisconsin in 1998 and graduated Brookfield East High School in 2006. While living in Brookfield, she worked at Pick and Save grocery store. She moved to Gulf Shores in 2014 with her parents where she lived in the Peninsula community. She worked at Rouse’s grocery store and was known for her sweet disposition and beautiful smile. She attended St Andrew by the Sea church where she worked with children on Wednesday nights prior to the pandemic. Allen was a beautiful bright star who was taken too soon. She suffered cardiac arrest while walking on August 30 and was pronounced deceased on August 31. Despite the great efforts of a neighbor who administered CPR until medics arrived, her brain was deprived of oxygen for too long. She is now in Heaven; she will forever be in our hearts, our memories, and our lives.
A celebration of Allen’s life was held Wednesday, September 6, 2023, at St. Andrew by the Sea, at 1:00pm. Visitation began at 12:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please make donation in the honor of Allen Cynthia Stanley, to St. Andrew by the Sea’s Youth Program, or to the Salvation Army’s Maui County Fire Recovery Fund.
