Audrey Renay Allen was born on July 20, 1924, to Herbert and Lillian Allen in Seattle, Washington.
While her father owned and operated a bakery, salmon fishing boats, and sold life insurance her mother, Grandma Dot, a pianist, encouraged Audrey to play violin.
Audrey joined Paramount Theater at four years of age as a child performer. Being agile and acrobatic she climbed a two-sided ladder while playing violin as one of her skits.
She played oboe in the Queen Anne High School Orchestra and became the lead majorette for the marching band combining her acrobatic skills with her amazing baton work. It was this type of performance during a parade in Vancouver, Washington where she attracted her future husband who was also in a marching band.
On February 27, 1943, she was wedded to 2nd Lt. Wilber F. Tinkcom who flew B-17’s for the eighth Air Force in the European Theater while she helped build them in the Boeing Aircraft plant in Seattle as an engineering assistant.
In 1946 her husband resigned from the regular Army Air Force as a first Lieutenant and joined a reserve unit. Life was normal again until August 10, 1950, when Wilber (Bill) was called up to fly combat missions in Korea. Audrey then had to take care of a two-and-a-half-year-old son and a nine-month-old son as well by herself.
Fortunately, Bill came home a year later in one piece and was persuaded to pursue a career as an officer in the recently created U.S. Air Force (1947). This is when Audrey became an Officer’s wife.
In 1955 Audrey was contacted by her brother Herb Allen to go on tour throughout Europe and up into Lapland above the Artic Circle. Her two sons lived with her parents and went to school in Seattle until her return. In 1957 her third son Alan was born. Bill continued to fly for the U.S. Air Force including missions over Vietnam while Audrey sweated out those missions and taught piano lessons.
Bill, persuaded by Audrey, retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Lt. Colonel in 1969. He received an engineering degree in 1971, but Audrey was not idle either. During that time, she was again contacted by her brother Herb to come to Ft. Slocum, New York to put together the string arrangements for a Bob Hope special which she did. Bob Hope even hosted a dinner for her.
In 1971 Bill accepted a position with a control valve company in Missouri City, Texas. He, Audrey, and son Alan lived in Sharpstown, Texas until 1981 when Bill accepted a job in Denver, Colorado.
The family bought a home in Georgetown, Colorado in 1982 where Audrey continued to play piano, violin, and accordion at the local churches and events in Clear Creek CO., Colorado. Idaho Springs had a summer event called Gold Rush Days in which Bill and Audrey were the king and queen of the parade in 1995.
In 2002 Audrey and Bill sold their home in Georgetown and moved to Laramie, Wyoming.
Audrey joined the University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra in 2006 as a Violinist until 2015.
Audrey could often be seen and heard playing violin and piano with her three sons Wayne, Ken, Alan, and Jeff Scott’s band Triple Threat if she wasn’t dancing.
In addition to music Audrey was an avid reader and prolific writer. She was kind to everyone and will be greatly missed.
We love you mom,
Wayne Tinkcom
Funeral Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 30th at Montgomery-Stryker Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Greenhill Cemetery
