Jason Mark Allen

September 4th, 1973 to March 2nd, 2025

Jason Allen passed away peacefully on Sunday, March 2nd, 2025, at UCSD medical center in La Jolla California. He was surrounded by his wife Mandy (Wood) Allen, and daughters, Katie, Brooke & Reagan. The team of doctors, nurses and staff at the UCSD Emergency Department and the ICU departments, as well as Jason’s entire oncology, urology, orthopedic surgery and palliative teams, were absolutely amazing throughout Jason’s entire 2-and-a-half-year battle with stage 4 clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Jason was born on September 4th, 1973 in White Plains, New York to Cheryl and Mark Allen. He graduated from the University of California, at Santa Barbara in June of 1996 with a Bachelor’s Degree in History. He was a member of the ATO Fraternity, even being elected President his senior year. He went on to obtain his California Teaching Credential and Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from National University in June of 2012. Jason worked at various retail companies for the first 18 years out of college, including CompUSA, Target and Toys R Us. He held many different roles, from sales associate to assistant store manager, store manager and regional manager.

Jason met his wife, Mandy (Wood) Allen when they were both camp counselors at Camp Cedar Glen in Julian, Ca in August of 1992, and they got married November 29th, 1997. They welcomed daughter Katie in September, 1999, Daughter Brooke in August 2001, and daughter Reagan in July 2003.

In the spring of 2011, Jason felt called to become a teacher. He decided that he wanted to make a difference in the lives of young people. He also wanted to find a career that would allow him to spend more time with his 3 little girls. He went back to school to get his teaching credential and Master’s Degree in Educational Technology. Jason obtained his single subject teaching credentials in History, English and Science. He began teaching at Santa Rosa Academy in Menifee, California in August of 2012, teaching 6th and 8th grade science. He quickly became one of the students’ favorite teachers. As part of Jason’s reward system in class, he offered, as a joke, a “Mr. Allen Sings” prize in his prize box. If a student chose that prize from the box, that student could choose a song, and Mr. Allen would have a week to rehearse and then perform it in class. This quickly became legendary, and students even started posting “Mr. Allen Sings” performances on YouTube. In Jason’s first couple years of teaching, he was very honored to receive the award for Teacher of the Year. Jason took on many roles in the school including middle school girls’ volleyball coach and after school Drama teacher, loving every minute of it! Jason could rarely go out in public without at least 1 former (or current) student running up to him telling him he was their favorite teacher. His wife and daughters also had the same experience when people found out they were related to Jason.

In 2019, Jason moved to the Lake Elsinore Unified School District, at David A. Brown Middle School. There he taught 6th and 7th grade science. It was very serendipitous for many other teachers in the district. In the spring of his first year in the district, the Covid pandemic hit. Because Jason was so experienced in educational technology, he was able to run Zoom meetings assisting his fellow teachers in running Zoom class sessions and setting up virtual classrooms. He was an amazing asset to many fellow teachers, and a huge resource throughout the process of online teaching. He loved working with his team of teachers and loved his students very much.

Besides his professional life, he also volunteered at the Murrieta United Methodist Church. He volunteered for many years as a youth counselor for the youth program, which included weekly meetings, overnights, retreats, ski trips, mission trips, etc. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he joined his Dad, Mark Allen, to Camp Love in Mississippi to help rebuild homes through the United Methodist Church’s disaster relief program UMCOR. After that trip, he decided to organize a larger group from MUMC to go rebuild even more homes. During his time at MUMC he also served as the chair of the Staff Parish Relations Committee and the chair of Board of Trustees at MUMC. He was a well-loved and respected member of the church, helping the church thrive for many years.

In Jason’s free time, he loved to spend time with his family: his wife Mandy Allen, his daughters Katie, Brooke and Reagan Allen, his parents, and his sisters’ family. Jason and Mandy also welcomed a bonus daughter, Jamie (DeCastro) Primer into the family, loved spending time with Jamie and her new little family, and loved being “Poppy” to his 4 beautiful grandbabies. He also loved traveling. Some of his trips included going to Hawaii, cruises to Alaska and the Mexican Riviera, trips to see family in Washington State, Idaho, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and a trip to Europe with his Dad, just to name a few. Family was always the most important thing in the world to Jason, and he always made them the priority.

Jason was predeceased by his Dad, Mark Allen, and his Aunt Rachel (Chandler) Tierney.

Survivors include his Mom, Cheryl Allen; his wife Mandy Allen; daughters Katie, Brooke & Reagan Allen; his sister Rachel (Allen) Tabutol, brothers-in-law Warren Tabutol, Tyler Wood, Rand Wood, and Paul Milam; Sisters-in-law Cindi Wood, Brenda Milam, Michelle Wood; nephews Trevor Wood, Austin Wood, Cameron Wood, Connor Wood, and Mark Tabutol; nieces McKenna Wood, Maya Tabutol, Brianna Wood & Sadie Wood; great nephews and nieces Scarlett Wood, Leo Wood, Astrid Wood & Violet Wood; his bonus daughter Jamie (DeCastro) Primer, son-in-law Nick Primer, and grandchildren McKenna, Eliam, Olivia and Saige Primer; Uncle Steve Allen, and cousins John Allen, Emily Allen, Atticus Lanigan, and Keagan Allen. Jason cherished each one of these beloved family members.

Jason also cherished each one of his students, both through church and school.

Even though Jason’s life was cut short by cancer, he was absolutely blessed with a life well-lived. We know that the ripples of his love and care for others will continue changing the world forever.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Murrieta United Methodist Church of Murrieta, Ca., Saturday, April 5th, 2025 at 2:00pm, with a reception to follow in the church Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending donations to the Murrieta United Methodist Church camp scholarships fund.