Richard D. Allen Jr.

Family-Placed Death Notice

ALLEN, Richard D., Jr. Mr. Richard D. Allen, Jr., an attorney in Tallapoosa, Georgia, died of a massive heart attack Monday, March 2, 2009. He was 63. Son of the late Dr. Richard D. Allen and Betty Lou Allen of Tallapoosa, he was born November 9, 1945, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He graduated from Tallapoosa High School in 1963, having lettered in basketball and football. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Mercer University in 1967. After serving his country as a Specialist E4 in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army from 1968-70, he entered law school at Mercer and received his Juris Doctor in 1974. He was president of the Student Bar Association during his final year at Mercer, and as such he successfully led the effort to allow all third-year law students in Georgia to take the bar exam while still in school. After entering the State Bar of Georgia, he served briefly as an aide to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Georgia House of Representatives, after which he served for a time as an Assistant District Attorney for the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit. He later entered private practice, focusing on criminal defense along with civil litigation and entertainment law. He was known as a tenacious and effective advocate, in the proud tradition of Haralson County-bred lawyers. Although never a candidate for elective office, he was very active in local, state, and national politics for more than a quarter of a century, and early on he attended the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Although he moved among the politically powerful and influential, he always had a soft spot in his heart for the underdog, and in his later years he spent much time working with the immigrant communities in the West Georgia area. Mr. Allen's personal interests and activities were far ranging. A lover of music, he was an early aficionado of the soul music scene in Macon in the 1960's. Later, he became professionally active in the entertainment industry, working with Atlanta radio personality Rhubarb Jones and the Georgia Film Commission. Intellectually curious and open to challenge, he was a voracious reader with a wide knowledge of history, politics, philosophy, and religion, and he enjoyed the company of persons of various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. A memorial service for Mr. Allen will be held on Sunday, March 8, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. in the courtroom of the Old Haralson County Courthouse, on the Square in downtown Buchanan, Georgia (at the intersection of U.S. 27 Bus. and Ga. Highway 120). The family will receive visitors at the courthouse immediately prior to the service from 2:15-3:00 p.m. A private interment will follow the service. Mr. Allen is survived by four siblings, including Rev. Claire Keene of Loudon, Tennessee; Robbye Drane of McDonough, Georgia; Rebecca Calhoun of Tallapoosa, Georgia; and Wayne Allen of Douglasville, Georgia; an aunt, Ruth Roberts of Carrollton, Georgia; and a number of nephews and nieces. The family requests that no flowers be sent. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make a donation in memory of Richard Allen to the Georgia Legal Services Program, 104 Marietta St., Suite 250, Atlanta, GA 30303. Arrangements by Cremation Society of the SOUTH in Marietta 770-420-5557.