Nancy Lee Allen, who fulfilled a childhood dream of some day owning her own retail store when she opened Middleburg's iconic Fun Shop in 1956, passed away on July 2. She was 92.

Mrs. Allen, a native of Winchester, used to play "shop" with her friends in the neighborhood. She also spent many years observing her father, A. Lee Coble, who managed several businesses in Winchester.

Mrs. Allen and her husband, renowned photographer Howard Allen, moved to Middleburg in 1955 when Howard purchased the local photography studio. Mrs. Allen was frustrated because there was no place in town to buy children's clothes or toys. Her solution was to open her own store and sell those items.

The Fun Shop was born, christened by Howard's mother, Dorothy Gilpin Allen, who loaned the couple the funds to start the business. It originally was located in a small building near the current Safeway and primarily sold toys and infant clothing. It moved to its current location in 1960.

Mrs. Allen always used to talk about the early days of the shop when Middleburg was still a sleepy town. One day, she recalled, she took in a total of 10 cents in sales. But more customers began to patronize the shop and always were asking her to stock other products. Mrs. Allen added them little by little and today, the shop houses 6,000 square feet of merchandise, and has expanded from only children's products to all ranges of clothing, gifts and home decor.

Nancy Allen was born in Winchester on Christmas Day in 1922, the daughter of Adelaide Peery Coble and Alexander Lee Coble. She lived in New York and Florida before she and Howard Allen, who knew each other as children growing up in Winchester, were married on May 8, 1948.

"My mother would do anything for anyone," said her daughter, Betsy Allen Davis, the mayor of Middleburg who now runs the shop with her sister, Page. "And she never really retired! She was well into her 80s when she finally stopped doing real work, but always enjoyed coming to the shop and checking the merchandise and meeting new customers. She loved talking to them and listening to their stories. She was a great people person."

Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk said of her, "Mrs. Allen was always a gracious lady. When my own mother passed away, Mrs. Allen came to visit me, brought food and visited. I can't recall all she said but I remember feeling calmer and at peace as she talked. That's the kind of lady she was. She knew what to say and when. She always greeted everybody when she was at the Fun Shop and was so sweet. A very special lady who will be missed."

Town Council Member Bundles Murdock agreed. "Mrs. Allen repeatedly asked me to call her Nancy but I just couldn't," she said. "I respected and thought of her highly. She was one of the most thoughtful, kind and generous people I have known in my life. And that smile! It would warm any dark day. But her best was her "wicked smile," the one she used when she tried to teach me poker and beat me hand after hand!"

Mrs. Allen loved her husband, her family and friends. She also enjoyed tennis, golf and gardening. And of course, The Fun Shop.

She is survived by her husband, Howard, and two daughters, Betsy Allen Davis of Middleburg and Dorothy Page Allen of Boyce; a sister, Helen Page Harry, and four grandchildren, Caroline Brooke Costin Kline, Elizabeth McKelvy Costin Taub, Whitney Allen Groseclose and Lauren Elizabeth Davis and four great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by a sister, Adelaide Clark.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Laurel Center, P.O. Box 14, Winchester, VA 22604 or the Middleburg Museum Foundation, PO Box 106, Middleburg, VA 20118.