Etty Allen, mother of former Va governor, dies

(AP) Henriette Etty Allen, matriarch of the Washington Redskins football family and mother of former Virginia Gov. George F. Allen, has died. She was 90.

According to a statement from the Allen family, she died Jan. 2 after a long illness. A private funeral is planned for her Tuesday in California.

The daughter of an anti-Nazi resistance fighter in occupied Tunisia, she immigrated after World War II to Iowa where she met and married George H. Allen, a small-college football coach.

Over the next four decades, Allen coached winning teams with the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins and earned a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He died in 1993.

Her son Bruce Allen is general manager of the Redskins.