Pat Jobe
Wednesday, August 5, 2026 12:54 pm
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Many artists have painted and drawn local landmarks and other images of Rutherford County. But few have done so with the heart and spirit of the late James Allen.
Beyond his passing three years ago, many local folks display his paintings, not the least of whom is his wife of 52 years, Sherry.
And she touches a lot of lives, too, especially through the ministry of "Simple Faith," the trio with whom she and her two sisters-in-law sing in churches and other venues.
"When I look out at people, I can tell they're touched by the music," Sherry said. It's difficult to adequately describe the emotional power of Sherry's walk with Jesus. She cries a lot.
"You know I cry a lot," she confessed with a smile and eyes rimmed with tears. She recalled being five years old when a pastor left Concord Baptist Church. "I went in my parents' bedroom and knelt at their bed and cried my eyes out. I think I would drown on the inside if I couldn't get the tears outside." She has been at Concord her whole life.
Her beautiful singing voice which joins her two sisters-in-law, Hannah Jolley and Sarah Sheppard in "Simple Faith," and her tearful professions of faith make her an inspiration to many who know her. And the story of her 52-year marriage to James Allen is due to their coming from good homes and raising two sons who are working to create good homes all as evidence of their faith in Jesus.
But this is not the story of one person's faith or family being any better than anybody else's. This is simply faith that might best be found in the name of the singing group "Simple Faith."
James's paintings and Sherry's singing are just markers that point to the larger story.
"When I get to heaven, he better be there to take my hand, and he better take me to Jesus," she said with an engaging laugh. She has no doubt about either outcome.
"Let me tell you a God story," she said. Her son, Jamie and his wife Amanda had a couple of close friends, David and Charity Hardin. They were always hanging out together, very close friends. Sadly in 2018, Amanda passed away. "It was horrible, one of the worst things we've ever been through." During Covid, a few years later, David passed. Another horrible thing for their friends and family to live through.
For a few months, the surviving widower and widow remained friends. They hung out together. In October of 2022, they decided to date. In May of 2023, they were married and in April of 2024, Parker Reed Allen was born, the sixth of Sherry's grandchildren.
The others are Benjamin, Audrey, Dutch, Caityn and Caleb.
And that, Sherry concluded, shows the hand of Jesus through even some horrible loss and grief.
James Allen had always drawn art as a child. He drew with a pencil and did not pick up a paint brush until he was an adult. After a reduction in force at AGI, he had more time on his hands and he began painting a lot more. Many of his prints can be found at James Allen Watercolors on Facebook. Sherry has many of his prints and they are for sale. She can be contacted through the Facebook page.
People who enjoy his world class painting of the flag on Chimney Rock believe it is a photograph. Sherry said people who live nearby will look at it and start pointing to where they live.
The paintings are all remarkable. The one of two horses drinking from a creek is from a photo James took. As the second horse was standing on the creek bank, James said, "Come on down now. Get on in there beside the other one." The second horse complied.
Both James and Sherry have given their testimonies in services. James wrote in his, after acknowledging that they each came from families of believers, loving homes, he wrote, "Sherry and I are so much alike. We truly are one. With her beauty and her love, it has always been easy for me. We are God's children."
In her testimony, Sherry gave thanks for her parents, Champ and Bertha, her sons, Michael and Jamie and their wonderful daughters-in-law and their grandchildren. She closed hers with a chorus, "Yes when this flesh and heart shall cease, I shall possess, within the veil a life of joy and peace."
Her simple faith shines through her tear rimmed eyes. She said, "I miss him so much."