John D. Allen

John grew up in the Butler area. He and his sister spent hours playing football and baseball on the empty lot next door with the neighborhood kids. As a young boy, John would tag along with his father to help at Taylor’s Bakery at 38th and Illinois. His maternal grandfather, Dennis Orville Taylor, started Taylor’s as a grocery store February 13, 1913. John shadowed his dad many Saturdays at the bakery straightening cans on the shelves, sweeping the old wooden floors, or going on deliveries.

John went to P.S. 86 and Shortridge High School. He attended Indiana University and then joined the family business. In 1968 he and his father opened a second location at 62nd and Allisonville which is still the production site. John owned a bakery at 86th and Ditch for 15 years. Then he and his sons opened a location in Fishers in 2003.

John was a member of Midwest Bakers Association and the Retail Bakers of America. He was a certified master baker and could decorate wedding cakes. Each year, he decorated birthday cakes for his sons Drew and Matt.

Later both sons became the fourth generation to run the bakery. John was so proud to have them as partners, and the three of them shared one office space. You would see “Bunman” delivering cakes in his black station wagon with the BAKERY license plate.

John was a man of character who loved his family and friends. He was gentle, kind, generous, and compassionate. He loved being with his grandchildren, playing with his five golden retrievers over the years, listening to Gospel music, reminiscing about the history of Indianapolis, delivering Meals on Wheels, taking snowmobile trips to Michigan, and traveling on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

John enjoyed the brotherhood of first responders with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, Indianapolis Fire Department, and the Fishers Fire Department. If you were near John, you would hear a police or fire radio in the background 24 hours a day. John became a member of the Downtown Kiwanis club in 1973 and enjoyed those friendships for many years.

He is survived by his wife Nancy Forsyth of almost 50 years, his sons Andrew (Kristin) and Matthew (Molly), and five grandchildren Olivia (14), Madeline (12), Blake (10), Bennett (8), and Charlotte (5), his sister, Mary Allen, and his sister-in-law, Charlotte Forsyth Whitt, two nieces, three nephews, and his devoted golden retriever, Cassie.

Private family inurnment will take place at Crown Hill Cemetery prior to the visitation. The visitation will be on Monday, February 14, 2022, from noon to 2:00 p.m. in the sanctuary at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church at 418 E. 34th Street in Indianapolis. The funeral service will follow at 2:00 in the sanctuary.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to ICAN which is a therapeutic dog training organization located at 5100 Charles Court, Suite 100, Zionsville, IN, 46077 (www.icandog.org), or the Fifty Club of Fishers, which supports the families of Fishers police officers and firefighters in the event of duty-related disability or death located at 8700 North Street, Suite 310, Fishers, IN, 46038 (www.fiftyoffishers.org).

Leppert Mortuary- Nora Chapel assisting with arrangements. To share a memory or condolence, please visit www.leppertmortuary.com.