David C. Allen was the type of father who always knew what his family needed better than they did.
Last year, Allen found a pregnant stray cat that he decided would be perfect company for his family’s elder cat, his daughter, Kristen Allen, said. When that cat had her litter, Allen told his daughter she needed one of the kittens.
Kristen Allen resisted the addition at first, but one day the two were talking and he asked her what she thought the kitten should be named. For whatever reason, she blurted out, “Joy,” she said.
Joy the kitten is now her reason for getting up in the morning.
“He knew I needed her to carry on with my life,” Kristen Allen said of her dad, who died Saturday in his Crown Point home. He was 73.
Allen, who worked for the Post-Tribune as a reporter, columnist and editor for 22 years, was a family man who never failed to offer up his time for the greater good, according to his other daughter, Amanda Gregory. His first love was golf, but when his daughters played softball, Allen wouldn’t dream of missing a game for time on the links.
“He even umpired softball, which is a thankless job,” Gregory said. “But church or local sports, he gave his time to us.”
And when his grandchildren arrived, there was no better audience to keep tickled with his humor.
“He was a lot of fun in the water. He was just under 6 feet tall, and he could be in three feet of water, and all of a sudden, he would disappear and then warn the kids, ‘Did you see that big hole?’ And they would just laugh,” Gregory said.
In times of trouble, he could be counted on the most, family members said. When Gregory’s son was diagnosed with cancer, Allen, who’d also dealt with the disease, proved to be a wonderful comfort, she said.
“It’s a crummy thing to be a resource for, but they had some great conversations,” she said.
Allen graduated from Dyer Central High School, where he met his wife of 51 years, Alice Chappelie Allen. He then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an MBA from Indiana University before joining the paper; after 22 years at the Post-Tribune, he took a job as a spokesperson at ArcelorMittal, from where he retired after 20 years.
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Alice Allen called her husband a “wonderful person, man, father, husband, grandfather and friend to people” who could come up with a pun at the drop of a dime.
Survived by his wife and two daughters, Allen is also survived by son-in-law, Paul Gregory; three grandchildren: Teddy, Kate and Luke Gregory; a sister, Carolyn Courville; and several nieces and nephews. He’s preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Lois Allen.
A wake will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18 at the Calumet Park Funeral Chapel; friends may also visit from 10-11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 7898 Taft St. in Merrillville, before the 11 a.m. service. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to David’s family, First Presbyterian Church of Merrillville or Cal’s Angels Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.