Robert Dee Allen

Robert D. (“Bob”) Allen was born on October 13, 1928, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Harve and Olive Jean Allen. He grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from Classen High School in 1946. During high school, he worked at a local grocery store, becoming a union meat cutter. When he was 17, he enlisted in the Army and saw active duty in World War II, serving in Yokohama, Japan in 1947 to 1948 as a special agent for the 44th Criminal Investigations Division of the 8th Army Provost Marshal General. He then attended the University of Oklahoma, where he was elected to Scabbard and Blade and designated as a Distinguished Military Graduate, graduating with his BA in Political Science and Economics in 1951. Upon graduation from OU, Bob was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and was recalled to active duty as a Military Police Officer, serving as an Operations Officer for the 40th Military Police Company in Korea during three campaigns. Bob continued as a member of the Army Reserves through the Vietnam War, and retired as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army. Through his military service, Bob earned a number of military decorations, including the WWII Victory Medal, The Japanese Occupation Medal, and the Korean War Service Medal.

He attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1953 and received his LLB degree in Feb. 1955, graduating Order of the Coif and receiving several other academic honors and awards. While in law school, he served as editor in chief and Article and Book Review Editor for the Oklahoma Law Review, president of the Student Bar Association, Magistrar of Holmes Inn, Phi Delta Phi, and was named Outstanding OU graduate of Phi Delta Phi in 1955. He entered private practice with Abernathy & Abernathy in Shawnee, Oklahoma in 1955.

Bob left private practice in 1956, when he accepted an appointment as Law Clerk to United States Circuit Court Judge A.P. Murrah.

He was appointed Law Clerk for United States District Judge Ross Rizley in 1957, after which, Bob briefly joined the firm of Kerr, Conn & Davis, primarily working on Kerr McGee’s uranium operations. Bob served as Deputy Insurance Commissioner and General Counsel for the Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner in 1958 through 1963. After leaving his state employment, Bob continued to work on behalf of the State of Oklahoma, without any compensation, on an appeal of a premium tax claim he had developed and handled for the Insurance Commissioner against the major life insurance companies then operating in the State of Oklahoma. Bob’s work resulted in a resounding victory and Bob received a Resolution of Commendation from the Oklahoma House of Representatives for this good deed for the people of the State. After leaving the Insurance Commissioner’s office, Bob served as an attorney for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, AT&T, and as Vice President and General Counsel for Illinois Bell Telephone Company from 1963 to 1983, when he retired. He then returned to Oklahoma City where he engaged in private practice until 2000.

During that period, Bob represented AT&T as Local Regulatory Counsel, and also served as Municipal Counselor for the City of Oklahoma City from November 1984 through July 1989, overseeing all legal matters for the City. In Jan. 2000, he became an Assistant General Counsel for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. He resigned from that position in October 2003.

Bob was a member of the Oklahoma, Chicago, Federal, American and Oklahoma County Bar Associations, the National Judicature Society, the Southwestern Legal Foundation, now the center for American and International Law, for which he served as an Advisory Board Member and was a Beneficial Fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation and a life member of the American Bar Foundation.

He served as chairman of the OBA Labor Law and the Legal Ethics Committee and as Vice Chairman of the Chicago Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Committee. In 1997, He was appointed as a Trustee for the Oklahoma City Waterfront Redevelopment Authority. Bob served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and at Oklahoma City University School of Law. He also served as an Adjunct Professor for the OU College of Engineering lecturing on the law of contracts. He had been listed for many years in Who’s Who In America and Who’s Who In American Law.

Bob was an active father, and served as Webelos Den Leader of Cub Scouts Pack 69 for two years. He was always there for his sons to talk to, and they knew they could count on Bob for advice and support. He held memberships in a number of clubs including Town Hall, the Downtown Lions Club of OKC, the American Legion, the Chicago Club, English Speaking Union, Queensberry Dinner Club, the Men’s Dinner Club and the OKC Golf and Country Club.

In 1953, upon returning from the Korean War to complete his law degree at the University of Oklahoma, he met a “beautiful, young bunny” Mary Conner, who was finishing her undergraduate degree at O.U.. Bob diligently pursued Mary and that relationship continued until they were married in the chapel at First Presbyterian Church, in Oklahoma City, on May 18, 1957.

Bob’s immediate surviving family consists of three sons, their wives, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: son Robert Scott Allen, his wife, Amy, and their son, Evan, of Glenview, Illinois; David Randel "Randy" Allen, M.D., his wife, Kimberly, and their children Allison, Braden, Claire, and Christy and her husband, Adam Wilson, all of Oklahoma City and their children, Jack and Piper; and Peter Blake Allen, his wife, Ginger, and daughters, Celia and Juliet of Houston, Texas, as well as a sister-in-law, Emily, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. Bob was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, and his older brother, Ted.

Bob was thankful for the help from friends, including Tony Beals, Laurie and John Stansbury, and Joe McClendon.

Bob was thankful for Dr. Rusty Cox; Dr. Pam Craven, Dr. Steve Archer and later Dr. Don Spadone who kept him going in his later years. He also appreciated the excellent care he received at St. Anthony Hospital during his last 21 days.

How do you summarize a life of 88 years?

Bob Allen was a mentor. He loved life. He loved his wife, Mary. He loved his children and daughters-in law. He adored his grand-children and great grand-children. He was a soldier. He was a Lawyer. He was a dreamer who saw the potential in everyone and everything around him. He believed in the Constitution of the United States and was a tried and true Oklahoman Democrat. Everyone who spent any time with Bob had no question that he believed in total equality and opportunity for all people.

He lived for a good vacation, and took many trips around the world, from Bali to Belize, Sumatra to Singapore, Europe, Thailand, Hong Kong, Mexico, and even Christmas Island.

He loved his wife, Mary, so very much, and for her, he convinced himself that he loved to dance.

After Mary passed, he loved Carol Smaglinski who is a quick-witted journalist and could match wits with him.

He loved a good steak as only a professionally-trained meat cutter could.

He loved a good scotch as only a drinker could.

He loved his friends, of which there were many.

He loved the University of Oklahoma and the Sooners.

He grew to love the Thunder.

He avidly played tennis and golf into his eighties, and was seen on the courts for many years at Quail Creek and Oklahoma City Country Clubs. When he could no longer play, he channeled his enthusiasm into watching tennis or golf with great interest.

He will be missed. He will really be missed.