John Allensworth

John Allensworth, age 83, passed away on May 9, 2025, at his home from acute leukemia. He was born to A.E. Allensworth and Evelyn (Shuman) Allensworth in Paulding, Ohio in 1941. John graduated from Paulding High School in 1959 and attended Kent State University, receiving a bachelors' degree in social studies and a PhD in geography.

John and his wife Diane (DeMuth) Allensworth joined the Peace Corps as volunteers in Panama from 1962 to 1964. He then taught social studies at Blue Creek local school from 1964 to1966. John was a university faculty member for almost 40 years at Kent State University and later at Georgia State University.

After teaching geography classes for approximately 20 years, John took an eight-year leave of absence to work in industrial management, implementing quality assurance and statistical quality control. John traveled coast to coast across this country as well as to numerous factories in Canada, Mexico and Denmark during this period instructing factory workers on how to monitor and improve the factory's production line.

John then took a position at Ohio Art in Bryan as their quality control manager for three years, which required numerous trips to China, Thailand and Hong Kong to monitor Ohio Art's relocated Etch-a-Sketch factory in China. Three years later, John returned to Kent State University working in the office of the vice president. Two years later, he accompanied his wife to live in Atlanta, where he taught geography at Georgia State University from 1998 to 2011.

Throughout his academic career, John led numerous student and community tours to Europe, Asia, Africa, Central and South America focusing on the cultural, environmental and political heritage of the people living in the area. After he retired from Georgia State University, he volunteered as a lecturer at the Senior University of Atlanta. His volunteer work included the Amigos de las Americas program, the Carter Center, the board of the National College Society and the Kent State University Alumni Board.

John is survived by his wife, Diane; and his daughters, Elizabeth Winters and Elaine Allensworth; their husbands, Brian Winters and Steven Meyers; and his grandchildren, Clate and Danny Winters and Emma Meyers. Memorial services will be held in Paulding on Sept. 6 at Den Herder's Funeral Home.

Memorial thoughts and stories can be left on Den Herder Funeral Home's website at www.denherderfh.com/obituary/john-allensworth. Instead of flowers, donations as a living legacy for John can be submitted to Georgia's Family First Home and Healthcare Services http://spot.fund/x758b1nsc which was established to provide scholarships to assist families who need financial assistance to enroll their loved ones in home health care but do not have the funds to do so. This care is needed following a hospital stay, assignment to hospice care or to ensure that an elderly parent can stay in their own home with a little help to assist with personal care. Or you can leave a donation to the charity of your choice in John's name.