Donald Allen

Donald Allen passed away peacefully at the age of 83 years on August 29, 2024 in Kansas City, MO.
He is survived by his wife of forty years, Debra DeVore Allen; his two daughters by his first marriage, Leigh Allen (Todd Ewing) and Leslie Allen (Richard Lowe); his elder sister, Gail Waterman; and his younger brother, Paul Allen (Sue). He is also survived by his in-laws who were truly family to him: Heidi DeVore (Peter Davis) and Kathy Tremain, as well as many, many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles.
Don was born the third of four children to Helen and Robert Allen, Jr., in Rochester, NY, in August, 1941. He received his Bachelor of Arts from SUNY Albany and spent a year teaching high school German after graduating. His early career began with his passion for writing and photography as a photojournalist for United Press International and then progressed to what would become a lifelong career in public and investor relations. He worked in public relations for Xerox on the East Coast before relocating with his family to Southern California to found a PR agency with his business partner and dear friend Gardner deSpain. He later formed his own company, The Allen Group, in Orange County, California. In the late 90s, he broke from sole proprietorship to work for 8 fruitful years as Director of Corporate Relations at Wonderware Corporation, followed by some years as VP of Corporate Communications at Incuity Software. During that time, he also enjoyed teaching in the IR field at UC Irvine and Chapman University.
Don was married in 1984 to Debra DeVore, and they continued living in Orange County until 2009, when they relocated to Liberty, MO. Don was able to stay active in semiretirement through his involvement on the board of directors for the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), the liaison with the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) and as president of the Kansas City chapter, and in 2013 he was named a Fellow of the institute.
Don also had a number of passions and hobbies outside of work. He loved and collected music of all kinds, including jazz, classical, rock, and indie, and retained encyclopedic knowledge of them all. He even played saxophone in the Saddleback Valley Big Band which he enjoyed tremendously. He was a connoisseur of food, wine and travel. He adored fly fishing and his annual trips with his best friends to the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Last Chance, Idaho. He traveled to various parts of the US and even Europe to watch Formula One racing. And if ever he could combine his love of photography with any of the above, he was a very happy man.
The family wishes to thank the wonderful people of Monarch Hospice and Tiffany Springs Senior Living. All are exceptionally kind, caring, loving people and we couldn't have asked for better care for Don in his last months.
In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations be made in Don's honor to the Henry's Fork Foundation at Donate to Donate to HFF | Henry's Fork Foundation (henrysfork.org) or by mail to Henry's Fork Foundation, PO Box 550, Ashton, ID 83420. Or to your own favorite charity