Van Allen (Thornton Van Nuys Allen, Jr.), beloved father of Terry V. Allen of Port Ludlow, Washington, and Sarah Lee Allen and her husband Raymond Poblick of Brentwood, passed away at home in Pacific Palisades on November 22, 2009 at age 91 of natural causes. He was the devoted husband of Julia (‘Dickie’) Searle Allen, who predeceased him, loving brother of James Pendleton Allen and his wife Joyce Dayton Allen of Los Angeles, and cherished uncle to several nieces and nephews. Van was born in Los Angeles on September 15, 1918, to Thornton Van Nuys Allen and Elizabeth Katharine Connely Allen. He graduated from Los Angeles High School and Stanford University with a major in economics and minor in poetry, and was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. In 1943, Van met the love of his life Dickie in the control tower while both were working for Pan American Airways at Treasure Island near San Francisco. Van was a flight navigator aboard the China Clipper seaplanes flying all-night trips from San Francisco to Hawaii (‘hopefully non-stop’ as he loved to say). His flying took him throughout the islands of the South Pacific and as far west as Australia. Dickie and Van corresponded while he was on active duty and they married on December 2, 1944. They moved to Southern California in 1947, settled in Pacific Palisades in 1957 and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary together in 2004. He was most proud of his lifelong commitment to the Navy and his service to country. Van was commissioned an officer in the Naval Air Reserve prior to the U.S. involvement in World War II. While on active duty he served in the Pacific Theater as a flight navigator for a seaplane squadron based at NAS Alameda for the Naval Air Transport Service (NATS). He continued his military service in the Reserves for 20 years, with cruises aboard the USS Hancock, USS Kitty Hawk, and USS Ticonderoga, and retired as a Lieutenant Commander. Van and his brother Jim managed the T. V. Allen Company, a family business started by their father in 1912 that manufactured fine stationery and personalized greeting cards. The company furnished products to retailers worldwide for over 75 years before being acquired by Crane & Company. Van was president of the company for 23 years, past president of the Engraved Stationery Manufacturing Association, and past president of the Bel-Air Bay Club. Van loved to entertain people by singing, reciting poems of Robert Service and Rudyard Kipling, telling stories in Lancashire dialect, and doing impressions of Winston Churchill, Maurice Chevalier and Frank Sinatra. He also wrote poems about his flying experiences and a personal memoir entitled ‘Brown Shoe Navigator’ or ‘Unheard of Tales of the South Pacific.’ He touched the lives of everyone he met and lived up to the description in his school yearbook as ‘Everyone’s Friend.’ Bravo Zulu! A memorial service will be held at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 1031 Bienveneda Ave., Pacific Palisades, on Sunday, December 6, at 2:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Palisades-Malibu YMCA.
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