On Monday, May 18, 2020, John Owen Allen,
loving father of three sons and devoted husband of 55 years, passed away at age 84 at the Stone Oak Retirement Community in Hilliard, Ohio. John was born on December 28, 1935, in Bentonville, Ark., to John and Nadine (Galyean) Allen. He earned a degree in accounting from University of Arkansas in 1962, after serving in the U.S. Air Force as a Russian linguist His USAF stations included Shemya, Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C. Following graduation, he moved to New York City to work for Price Waterhouse. In 1962, he met a young woman named Nancy Gray from Carthage, N.Y., at a Halloween party in New York City. On August 3, 1963, he married her. They eventually moved to Huntington, W.Va., where they raised their three sons, John, Andrew, and Michael.
John retired from Inco Alloys in 1992, after more than 25 years of service. He began his career there as an outside auditor and retired as president. John loved his family and he loved life, traveling the world. He loved to learn and to share that knowledge with anyone who would listen. Honest and fiercely loyal, John kept the same best friend, John Douglas, since first grade. After family and career, his biggest passion in life was rooting for his Arkansas Razorbacks! John Allen has gone home with one last calling of his Hogs, “Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie! Razorbacks!”
John was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 55 years Nancy (Gray); father, John W.; mother, Nadine (Galyean); his three sisters, Nadine Skerjanec, Susanne Main, and Janice Allen. John is survived by his three sons, John W., Andrew L. and his wife, Patty, and Michael L.; three grandchildren, John O., Laura A. Allen and Juliet P.; and one great-granddaughter, Olivia Tucker.
Per his wishes, John’s body was donated to the Marshall University Joan C. Edward School of Medicine. Like his wife before him, to donate one’s body to the health sciences is a noble, compassionate and humanitarian gesture. A memorial service will be held in John’s hometown of Bentonville, Ark., at a later date.