Allen Kent Phillippe

Allen Kent Phillippe, 83, of Robinson, IL, passed away on March 12, 2026, at Crawford Memorial Hospital in Robinson. Born on February 22, 1943, in Robinson, he was the son of Kent & Elizabeth "Betty" (Rich) Phillippe, both of whom preceded him in death. He is survived by his brothers, Philip Edward (Patty) Phillippe and Dr. Loy Richard "Rick" (Dianne) Phillippe; by his nephew, Tony Phillippe, and niece, Amber Phillippe; by his great-nephews and niece, Robert, Ben, and Emma; and by his uncle, Warren Rich.

Allen grew up in a family that knew the value of hard work, and as a boy, that often meant driving a tractor. It was not a task he particularly enjoyed, and somewhere along the way, he decided that farming was not the life for him. His parents hoped their boys would go on and get an education, and Allen did just that, following a path that fit him far better. From an early age, he loved to read, and that love opened up a world much larger than the fields of his childhood. In time, it also helped shape the work for which so many in this community would remember him.

After attending elementary school in Flat Rock, Allen graduated from Robinson High School with the Class of 1961. He went on to earn an Associate of Science degree from Vincennes University in 1963, followed by a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana State University in 1965 and a Master of Science degree in 1970. By then, the direction of his life was clear. A lifelong reader had become a language arts teacher. He taught for three years in Noble from 1965 to 1967 before moving back home to Robinson, where he taught at Nuttall Middle School from 1967 until his retirement in 1999. He loved literature, especially the works of Mark Twain, and his appreciation for Twain even found its way into the classroom through the Tom and Becky Competition at Nuttall, just one example of the way Mr. Phillippe could make learning memorable.

In retirement, Allen shared a home with his mother and devoted himself to caring for her. Caring for the people closest to him had long been part of who he was, and that included his nieces and nephews, who knew firsthand that their uncle was always glad to help when he could. Those years were marked not only by responsibility, but also by life's little pleasures, like playing golf at Oak Glen and Deer Run (though, by all accounts, he was not especially good at it). He also spent some time fishing at his Uncle Warren's pond. He kept reading, too, and he read widely. Mark Twain remained a favorite, but so did writers like Clive Cussler and James Patterson. He had a particular fondness for mysteries and science fiction, and the more disastrous the story, the better.

Somewhere along the line, that lifelong enjoyment of storytelling pushed him to create one of his own. For years, he talked about writing a book, and eventually he did. After plenty of drafting and editing, he self-published a novel that drew from fictionalized teaching experiences and was filled with the kind of juvenile humor that fit both Allen and the students who filled his classroom over the years. Finishing that book was a fitting chapter in a life shaped by perseverance, and that same perseverance remained with him even as neuropathy made his later years increasingly difficult. Though it took from him many of the things he loved, it could not take away the memory of a man who spent his life reading deeply, teaching faithfully, and caring for his own.

It was his wish to be cremated without a public service. The Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson is assisting the family at this time.