Stanley Allan

1921 - 2015

Stanley Nance Allan, 93, longtime Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and past president of the architectural firm Harry Weese and Associates died Friday at his home in Chicago. Mr. Allan, born in Philadelphia in 1921, relocated to Washington, D.C. and graduated from Western High School, now Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. After High School Mr. Allan worked as a carpenter on the Pentagon, rising to Framing Foreman before leaving Washington, D.C. in pursuit of a college degree. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he met and fell in love with his wife Mary Willis Sledge. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Allan answered his nation's call and served as an aviator in the United States Navy at Beeville, Texas. Upon release from Military Service, Mr. Allan was accepted to Harvard's Graduate School of Design and subsequently attained a Master of Fine Arts degree. As an Architect, Mr. Allan experienced varied and professionally rewarding projects with such esteemed Architectural Firms as Skidmore Owings and Merrill and Harry Weese and Associates. Mr. Allan's work at Skidmore Owings and Merrill included architectural support of projects at the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado and the Upjohn Company Headquarters, Kalamazoo, Michigan. His significant impact as an architect and his career achievement can be seen with development and construction of the Washington D.C. Metro project. From 1964 through 1977, while at Harry Weese and Associates, Mr. Allan was the project manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's Metro project in Washington, D.C. In 1977 he became the president of Harry Weese and Associates, serving until retirement in 1995. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary, 4 children, 3 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren.