Dana V. Allen

Dana Vanderbilt Allen

February 13th, 1955 - March 8, 2026

“To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow”

-Audrey Hepburn

Dana Vanderbilt Allen, beloved mother, grandmother, friend and colleague, passed away unexpectedly during her stay at UVM Medical center early in the morning of March 8th, 2026, with her daughter Emma and son Owen by her side.

As a close friend stated, “the world was a much better place when she was in it.”  An avid reader, gardener, and social worker, Dana spent her life tending to her land and her loved ones with great care and tenacity. She loved to learn and often shared insights from her latest book or documentary. She believed in making a better world for generations to come through small, though not insignificant, acts of kindness, attention, and activism. Those who knew her well felt her love like a warm blanket, a safe haven, a well that could always find a reserve for those in need. For the past nine months, Dana had been navigating an unexpected diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia, with hopes of receiving a stem cell transplant in the near future. She braved through her illness with dignity, authenticity, grace, and resilience.

Dana was born on February 13th, 1955 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to Edward Warner Allen Jr. and Gwendolyn (Latour) Rossler. Dana spent her early years growing up and attending school in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, alongside her three brothers, Edward (Teddy), Charles (Scott), and Russell (Rusty). As a child, Dana was known for her kindness and for the big smile she wore almost everywhere she went. She was a twirler and an actress, but most of all she loved being with her friends, and a good friend she was, a quality that only deepened as she grew older. When reminiscing about her early years, Dana would often say, “Thank God for my friends.”

In her childhood, Dana reveled most in her summers spent in Westport, NY with her grandparents, Emily and Charles Latour on Congress Street. Emily taught Dana to sew and offered much care, joy, and nurturance to Dana and her brothers. It was on Congress Street that Dana would meet the future father of her children, Roy Gibbs, who lived next door to the Latours. His parents were family friends, and their paths would later reconnect.

After high school, Dana attended St. Lawrence University from 1973 to 1977. She developed a love of the German language and lived abroad in Austria during her junior year in college. It was there too that she met some of her other lifelong friends, namely DeEtte Marshall and Deb Mileo.  

After graduation, Dana and Roy reconnected and traveled around the country, living primarily in Connecticut and Oregon before eventually settling back in Westport to raise their family. They married in 1978 and welcomed three children, Emma (1984), Owen (1987), and Sarah (1991). Dana felt a deep calling to motherhood. As a mother, she was loving, thoughtful, generous, and compassionate.  She cared for her children with her entire heart and soul.

She was known for dropping whatever she was doing to take a call from one of her children or grandchildren. She was also known for creating lively, unsolicited group conversations between whoever happened to be in the room and whoever was on the phone.

As a grandmother, Dana was playful and always made her grandchildren feel loved. Her grandchildren recall special kitchen activities with her- making yogurt mandalas, baking projects, and playing rummy at the kitchen island. She traveled far and wide to attend their concerts, plays, and activities. She drove to North Carolina twice a year to visit two of them, routinely making the 14-plus-hour trip in a single day, a testament to her grit and tenacity.

She also loved her daily crossword puzzles and Wordle, faithfully sharing her results with her children in their group chat.

Dana’s home and gardens were among her greatest joys. She loved growing her own vegetables and tending her perennial flowers. She delighted in feeding her friends and neighbors and always planted an abundance of zinnias, her favorite flower. Throughout the growing season, beautiful bouquets could almost always be found in her home. Dana happily spent long weekend days in the garden, doing every ounce of the careful work required to grow the year’s bounty. Her salads became something of a local legend, always bright, vibrant, and beautifully prepared. She also tended an orchard of plums, apples, and pears, and cared devotedly for her chickens, finding endless amusement in their quirks and personalities.

She began her 40 plus year career as a social worker at Mountain Lake Services, serving people living with developmental disabilities. She spent many years in direct service before moving into management and leadership roles. She was deeply loved by the people who worked with and for her and was known for her compassion, strong leadership, and high standards of care.

Later in her career, Dana returned to graduate school and earned her Master’s degree in Social Work, an accomplishment she had long hoped to achieve but had postponed while raising her children. During her graduate program, she began volunteering for WomenSafe, an agency that provides advocacy and support to survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and she continued her involvement there for several years. She also joined the board of the Essex County Mental Health Association, eventually serving as board president.

After 37 years at Mountain Lake Services, Dana retired but soon embraced a completely new role with the Counseling Services of Addison County in Vermont, working as a school-based clinician for the last seven years of her career. Anyone who spoke with Dana knew how much she loved “her kiddos”. She was the kind of social worker who always went the extra mile to help her students and their families. She was a safe haven for many, with arms open wide to offer a listening ear, advocacy, encouragement, or a much-needed boost in morale.

Dana’s children, grandchildren and loved ones miss her beyond expression. She was a source of light, love, strength, perseverance, and support to all who were fortunate enough to be in her orbit.

She was predeceased by her ex-husband Roy Gibbs; her parents; and her two brothers, Teddy and Rusty. She is survived by her brother Scott (Jeanne) Allen; her sisters-in-law Kathy and Betsy; her brother-in-law Scott and Margaret Gibbs; and her children Emma, Owen, and Sarah (Nick Harrison). She also leaves behind her four beloved grandchildren, Sophie, Magnolia, Olivia, and Laila, as well as many nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews: Gerrit Gibbs (Sita, Nico, and Max), Chris Gibbs, Tyler Rathbun (Hawkins), Liza Straub (Aiden and Matt), Casey Allen (Madison and Bailey), Caitlin Allen-Cowan (Will and Liam), Jonathan Allen, Ashley Allen (Frank and Charlie), and James Allen.

Like the zinnias she planted each year, Dana’s warmth and kindness will continue to brighten the lives of those who knew and loved her.

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