Richard L. Allen

Adoring son of Henry H. and Beaulah H. (nee Whaley) Allen; beloved husband of Maxine (nee Becker); loving father of James D. Allen; dear brother of Roland G. (Francis) and Robert H. (Mary) Allen; Fond uncle to many nieces and nephews.

Richard was born in 1926, in Princeton IL, a small town 120 miles SW of Chicago, where he and his younger twin brothers, Robert and Roland, were raised by Christian parents Henry and Beulah Allen. When Richard was about 13, the family inherited a small farm north of Princeton, where they raised crops, cows & chickens. Two things Richard would mention in adulthood – milking cows and the one-room schoolhouse he and his brothers attended. The brothers had fond memories of their time growing up on the farm and life in the country.

Richard and his brothers came to Chicago to attend Moody Bible Institute. Here, Richard met his wife, Maxine (from Lancaster WI), in one of their classes, and they married in 1950. Richard completed the Pastor’s course in 1952, and he and his brothers were ordained in 1953 at Kasbeer Community Church. Although Richard and wife Maxine didn’t ultimately go into full time Christian work, they put their training to work at Midwest, where they became members in 1958 (Richard for about 66 years). Richard mainly worked in Sunday School ministries, Primary teacher (age 6-8), Junior Superintendent (age 9-11? with wife Maxine), Christmas Program director several years, and many years in the Sunday School Office as Assistant, Superintendent, and in later years till his mid-80s as Treasurer/Secretary. At times, he was a Trustee, bus committee maintenance and picking up Moody students, and Usher. Richard learned to use and do some programming on personal computers in the 1980s and used this primarily in Sunday school work.

Richard spent the majority of his career driving delivery trucks of all sizes including semi-truck trailers for Railway Express Agency in Chicago and suburbs (another thing Richard would talk about). But also worked for a florist, and managing warehouse space at a globe company in later years leading to retirement.

Richard enjoyed visiting many places over the years in about 40 states, 12 national parks, and 10 or so countries, by train, plane, floatplane, helicopter, ship.

Richard had a stroke at 89 in late 2015, and was diagnosed with dementia. After having compressed vertebrae in 2022, he went to live at Central Baptist Village who were able to care for his back and memory care needs. The dementia led to his passing on Tue 3/26/2024, at age 97, 4 days before his 98th birthday.

Richard leaves behind his son James Allen, his brother Roland G. Allen, and many nieces, nephews, and great nieces and great nephews.

If you would like to make memorial contributions, some meaningful organizations based on Richard’s life, include:

Midwest Bible Church - where Richard was an active member and volunteer for about 66 years, till his passing.

Alzheimer Association - https://act.alz.org/ - Richard passed away after having dementia for 8+ years.

Central Baptist Village - where Richard spent his last 2 years, in a unit with staff caring for residents with complex memory and dementia care needs. https://cbvillage.org/giving/#donate

A visitation for Richard will be held Thursday, April 4, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Midwest Bible Church, 3441 N Cicero Ave, Chicago, IL 60641. A funeral service will follow at 7:00 PM. A private interment will occur at Memory Gardens Cemetery.