City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation

Obituary
Evelyn Fleming Allen

Raleigh, North Carolina

Age 89.
Died 03/16/2024.

Evelyn Fleming Allen
Evelyn Fleming Allen passed peacefully at home on the morning of March 16, 2024, six weeks to the day after the passing of her husband of 67 years, Fred Allen. Their mutual devotion was evident to all who knew them – a love story to be continued in the next realm.

Evelyn and her twin sister, Ellen, divided their childhood between a sheep homestead in the Colorado Rockies and an oil town on the edge of California’s Death Valley, where their father served as the town’s barber. When the girls began high school, they returned to Grand Junction, Colorado where Evelyn played upright bass and Ellen played piano in a traveling dance band. Sadly, Ellen died in a car accident soon after their senior year, an event that impacted Evelyn for the rest of her life.

Evelyn met Fred Allen on the first day of freshman English at Colorado State University. After graduating with a degree in vocational home economics, Evelyn married Fred and started teaching junior high in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Fred was stationed with the Navy. When the couple returned to Southern Colorado, Evelyn continued teaching until their daughter, Cindy, was born. The couple lived in Colorado until 1974, when Fred’s job brought them to Raleigh, NC.

In Raleigh, the couple soon became active members of First Presbyterian Church and the Koinonia Class, where Evelyn became active in Circle and served two terms as Sunday school class president.

An avid volunteer, Evelyn became a Cadette Girl Scout leader long before her own daughter was old enough to join. Evelyn taught generations of 7th, 8th, and 9th grade girls to become strong, independent, self-assured women. Evelyn took her scouts white water rafting, as well as camping in the Great Sand Dunes and in the snowy Colorado mountains. She could pitch a tent, start a campfire, and cook a full birthday cake with nothing other than some tin foil and a few hot rocks – all without chipping her perfect manicure. She later served multiple terms on the Girl Scout Board of Directors, traveling across 20 counties in central North Carolina to establish and train local satellite boards.

Evelyn could sew anything. She made all of Cindy’s clothes, including matching outfits for Cindy’s favorite doll, Skipper. She did the same for her granddaughter, Hannah and Hannah’s American Girl doll, Josephina. When Cindy was in high school, she saw a fabulous designer prom dress in Saks 5th Avenue in New York. She sketched a picture of the dress on a napkin and brought it home to Evelyn. Evelyn created her own pattern and made a perfect replica of the dress. She made Cindy’s first interview suit – a fully lined wool gabardine tailored ensemble with French seams. At one point, she made custom satin band shirts and cumberbunds for every member of the Broughton High School marching band. (She also started the first Broughton Band Fruit sale – a fundraiser that still survives nearly fifty years on.)

Evelyn was loving and mischievous, with a dry wit that always took us by surprise coming from such a proper and elegant lady. She loved music, and hummed a tune throughout her day no matter what she might be doing. A devoted grandmother, Evelyn greeted her grandchildren before school each morning with a properly balanced breakfast, a Disney movie, and a game – often poker. And there were always, always chocolate chip cookies after school.

To the end of her life, Evelyn took joy in the small pleasures of life and in the love of her family. She never missed an opportunity to show the people she loved how she felt. Her smile was all-encompassing, and she was always smiling, even on her last day. We will miss her tremendously, but know that she has gone to be with Fred on their next great adventure.

Evelyn is survived by her daughter, Cynthia Allen Edwards; grandchildren James Austin Edwards and Hannah Edwards-Veaner (Allison); sister Eleanor Bush (Ron); and brothers, Sam Fowler (Sue) and Barry Fowler (Sharon). Evelyn was preceded in death by her twin sister, Ellen Fleming; mother, Josephine Evangeline Lutkiewicz Fleming Hansen (Fred); father, Clarence Carlton Fleming (Dorothy); and her beloved husband of 67 years, James “Fred” Allen.

Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church https://fpcraleigh.org/give/ or Girl Scouts, North Carolina Coastal Pines https://www.nccoastalpines.org/en/support-us.html

You can find Fred's obituary at this link: https://www.cityofoakscremation.com/obituaries/2024-02-03-James-Allen

The family is planning a private memorial for late May.

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.

Our Services

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Direct Cremation

$1196.75

Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.

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Cremation with Solidified Remains

$2875.66

We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.

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Cremation with Visitation

$1917.84

City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.

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Immediate Burial

$2497.50

An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.

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Traditional Funeral

$6081.48

We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.

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Green Burial

$3033.75

This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.

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Aquamation

$2640.59

As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.

City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations