Allene Stuart Phy Olsen

Allene Stuart Phy-Olsen died peacefully on Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024, after a brief illness.She was 86 years old. Born in Glasgow, KY on December 12, 1937, Allene was the only child of Allen Phy, a prominent Presbyterian minister, and Helen Stuart Phy. 

Allene received an Associate Degree from Stephens College, a BA in English literature from the University of Kentucky in 1959, and an MA and ED.S in 1961 from George Peabody College. After Allene “taught her way through graduate school” (as she described it) as a teaching assistant at Peabody, she went on to get her Doctorate in literature from Vanderbilt University. She became a professor at Peabody, receiving tenure and teaching there for the next 15 years. She was also a tenured professor at Alabama State University, where she taught next for 10 years, and after that, at Austin Peay. Allene also lectured widely in the US and in Sweden and Italy. After 49 years of teaching, she retired to Clarksville, TN with her beloved husband, Bruce. She continued to teach Sunday school classes for adults on many religious topics, and also continued to write fiction. Allene was an accomplished author and scholar; she published 4 books, and hundreds of articles in scholarly and popular journals, encyclopedias and other reference publications. She was a regular book reviewer for the Nashville Tennessean and The Montgomery Advertiser. Allene was an avid and adventurous traveler,both as a young woman, and later with her husband, exploring six of the seven continents. In retirement, she pursued hobbies including jewelry making and supporting animal rights causes.

Allene met Frederick Bruce Olsen at Alabama State University where they both taught in the early 1980’s. They married in 1986. Allene described Bruce as the love of her life and was devoted to him throughout their 28-year marriage until his death in 2014. Allene is survived by her stepson John Olsen (wife Koong-Nah Chung), and their son Percival Chung Olsen (wife Michelle Merlin) and granddaughter Shoshana Olsen, and their daughter Eudora Louise Olsen(husband John Stubbs); stepdaughter Nancy Olsen, and her daughter Eleanor Durfee (husband Taka Koizumi). The youngest of her stepchildren, Robert Olsen, predeceased her in2023. She is also survived by her two cousins, Rhonda Helm and Rosalind Spillman. 

Service will be held on Monday, October 28, 2024, 11 AM, at Madison Street United Methodist Church, 319 Madison Street, Clarksville, TN, with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers,donations may be made to the Humane Society of Clarksville, 940 Tennessee Ave.,Montgomery County, TN 37040.