Captain David R. Allen

Captain David R. Allen, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired), completed a courageous fourteen year battle with cancer on February 19, 2026, at the age of 66. He was born in Scotland County, North Carolina, the third of four boys for Margaret Cole Allen of Laurel Hill and Eddie H. Allen, Jr. of Raeford.

The Allen family spent more than 20 years traveling the world as a proud military family, with assignments in Louisiana; Newfoundland, Canada; Tucson, Arizona; Wiesbaden, Germany; Bunker Hill, Indiana, before returning home to North Carolina prior to retirement. Dave completed high school and college in his home state before following his father and two older brothers into a military career. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science at Pembroke State University, now known as the University of North Carolina Pembroke, Dave chose to pursue a career focused on saving lives and fighting illegal drug trafficking by enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard. His first assignments were in Miami, Florida; Brunswick, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina.

After a successful enlistment, Dave returned to Pembroke to work as a university administrator in the Dean of Student’s office. It was there where Dave was introduced to his lifetime love, his bride, the future Janet Lane Allen. Dave and Janet dated for more than two years before they were married on campus during Spring Break of Janet’s senior year. Following Janet’s graduation and commissioning in the U.S. Air Force in May 1989, Janet and Dave headed west to her first assignment at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. While in Texas, Dave was commissioned in the Coast Guard Reserve. It was there the young couple was also blessed with their first born, Victoria born in 1991, just three month before the family headed west again, this time to the western Pacific U.S. territory of Guam, where Dave served as the Assistant Operations Officer and Rescue Coordination Center Supervisor.

After three years on Guam, Dave was offered an opportunity to transition to active duty service with a tour at Coast Guard Headquarters in DC. During that headquarters tour, Dave and Janet were blessed with a second daughter, Caroline Alexis, who was born at Fort Bragg, NC and continued a nine-generation streak of Allens born in the Tar Heel state, dating back to the 1750s. Follow-on tours included Honolulu, Miami, DC again, the U.S. Embassy, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and back to Miami for three assignments. Mostly through military assignments and temporary duty orders, Dave was able to visit all 50 of the United States before his 50th birthday, as well as four of the five U.S. territories. Dave retired as a Captain (O6) in 2015, after more than 30 years of active service. His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, and three Meritorious Service Medals. He also earned two Masters degrees at Hawaii Pacific University and a third at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Dave relished his adopted role as the family historian and amateur geologist. His research uncovered links to several Scottish clans and three British kings. He traveled to Scotland and Ireland ten times, occasionally doing research on his trips and frequently sampling local cuisine and products. He was very proud of Scottish ancestry, frequently attending Highland Games across the country.

Dave is survived by his bride of 36 years, Janet Lane Allen, and their two daughters, Victoria of Hollywood, California, and Caroline, of Daytona Beach, Florida, as well as his brothers, Mike (Janet) of Cary, NC, Dan (Therese) of Oklahoma City, OK, and Charles (Xan) of Raeford, NC. His parents, Eddie H. Allen, Jr. and Margaret Cole Allen preceded him in passing. Interment will be scheduled at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined later.