Allene Stallings Gane, 81, of Lumberton passed away Thursday, July 30, 2009.

The memorial service will be held at 2:00PM on Sunday, August 2, 2009, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1202 N. Chestnut Street, Lumberton.

Allene was born in Goldsboro, NC, on February 14, 1928, and graduated from Rocky Mount High School in 1945. In 1949, she graduated from Elon College, with degrees in French and English, and married her college sweetheart, Lacey Gane. In 1958, she completed her Masters in English Education at UNC-Greensboro. Her career as a teacher spanned 57 years.

She spent her lifetime devoted to three passions: her family, her church and her students. Her top priority was always family, and her five children are a testament to her success as a loving mother. As a devoted member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Lumberton, Allene was instrumental, along with the Reverend Garland Teasley and Dr. Robert Young, in establishing and managing a soup kitchen, which grew to become the Lumberton Christian Care Center. Finally, during her long career as a teacher, her love for the English language and its literature influenced literally thousands of students. She will be dearly missed by those whose lives she helped to mold.

She was preceded in death by her parents, James Isaac Stallings and Tempie Hinton Stallings; her husband, Lacey Eber Gane; a grandson, Stephen Charles Gane, Jr.; and a great-grandson, Christopher Cutler Gane.

She is survived by five children and eight grandchildren: Lacey Earl Gane, II, his wife, Jan McCorkle Gane, and their children, Joshua Lacey Gane and Margaret Ann Gane; James Richard Gane, his wife, Amanda Davis Gane, and their son, Brian Christopher Gane; Stephen Charles Gane, his wife, Sara Dew Gane, and their daughter, Kathryn Hope Gane; Natalie Gane Cook, her husband Michael Holland Cook, and their children, Michael Holland Cook, Jr., and Allene Stallings Cook; Dwight David Gane, and his wife, Gail Ormsby Gane, and their children, Dwight David Gane, Jr., and Daniel Mark Gane.

She is also survived by her sister, Louise Stallings Gomedella; her brother-in-law, Dominic George Gomedella, of Erwin, NC; and six nieces and nephews: Marcia Gomedella Hare, William Rogers, Tommy Rogers, Kay Rogers, Nina Sullivan, and Lisa Craig.