Robert Edward Allen

Bob Allen passed away quietly on March 3, 2026, at 87 years of age at his North Carolina mountain home that he loved very much. He is survived by his wife Pats of 37 years, three children, Ralph, Diane and Fran, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; his ex-wife Helen and numerous friends from the state of FL and his friend he considers a brother, John Hayes.

Bob was born in Kansas City on October 21, 1938. He graduated (barely!!) from Bishop Miege Catholic High School in spite of the fact that scholastics were never his strong suit. One of his favorite stories was about the time during his senior year that one of his teachers, who happened to be a nun, was going to fail him in a class that he needed to pass in order to graduate. Bob somehow talked the nun into playing him a hand of poker for a passing grade. Of course, he won the hand and the nun was as good as her word and gave him the grade he needed. Another of his favorite high school stories was about the time he used information he gleaned from chemistry class to build a stink bomb which he placed in the basement of the school. His chemistry knowledge proved out when the entire building had to be evacuated.

After high school Bob joined the U.S. Navy and was stationed in the Pacific, then returned to Kansas City to work with his father Robert Allen in the family business selling and servicing hearing aids. Eventually Robert Sr. retired and moved to Florida with his wife Marie, leaving Bob to run the family hearing aid business. This is when Bob’s savviness as a businessman first really shone forth. He did so well with the hearing aid business that he was able to liquidate it and retire at just 34 years of age.

An avid sportsman, Bob’s life was filled with fishing and hunting. He chased everything from Missouri quail to Wyoming antelope to Alaska salmon to Florida tarpon and many, many more. His hunting and fishing stories could fill all the pages of a book. The young lives of his growing children included numerous camping vacations and fishing trips.

Bob married Helen Lambour on September 13, 1958, and they had three children: Ralph, Frances and Diane. Not long after his retirement from the hearing aid business Bob and Helen decided to follow Bob’s parents to Florida and they moved their family to the small town of Punta Gorda on Florida’s southwest coast. Bob, Helen and their children enjoyed Florida’s famous water sports while fishing in Charlotte Harbor and the nearby Gulf of Mexico, and they made numerous trips to the Florida Keys to fish and catch lobsters. After a few years of retirement Bob’s entrepreneurial side resurfaced and in about 1980 he and Helen started up a fishing guide business called “King Fisher Fleet” in Punta Gorda. Within a few years this business grew to include multiple fishing boats and then branched out to include sightseeing excursions as well. King Fisher Fleet is still a successful business today, building on a solid foundation placed by Bob and Helen some 45 years ago, being ran by his son Capt. Ralph Allen & Granddaughter Elissa.

In addition to his successes in the very different fields of hearing aids and guide fishing Bob had many lucrative dealings with real estate. Some of this came from buying neglected properties and turning them into rentals and others came from his ability to spot opportunities to buy properties that quickly appreciated in value and that could be sold for a profit. Clearly Bob possessed a canny business sense.

Bob married Patsy Maynard on October 21, 1989, in Mars Hill North Carolina. They travelled extensively including trips to Alaska, Central America, Australia and New Zealand. Bob and Patsy also had much adventure Backpacking the Appalachian trail, Chillcoote trail & Pacific crest trail where they deep sea dove and snorkeled to catch lobster. They also enjoyed primitive camping in Belize while hiding under trees while guerillas were scouting overhead.

One of Bob and Patsy’s greatest enjoyments was making music; Bob loved entertaining and wrote songs that were meant to make you happy & laugh. They wrote and performed numerous songs and had paid gigs at several venues in Florida, Texas and in North Carolina. Bob particularly enjoyed playing guitar, mandolin and harmonica.

A few years after they were married Bob and Patsy bought mountain acreage in North Carolina in the area where Patsy grew up and began a pattern of spending summers in North Carolina and winters in Florida. Over time their pattern trended towards more time in North Carolina and less time in Florida until they finally sold the last of their Florida properties and moved full time to North Carolina. They assembled a multi-acre mountain property onto which they eventually moved and improved that property into a one-of-a-kind mountain retreat not far from Marshall NC. It was there that Bob and Patsy started a new family when they began accumulating donkeys, and the property was affectionately named “Allen’s Donkey Farm” where he had large Mammoth Jackstock donkeys. He spent many happy hours building trails & riding Ruby & Bluto his favorite Mammoths.

In the later years of his life Bob spent countless hours in their “bunkhouse”, looking out over the mountains and listening to the donkey’s bray.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday March 29, 2026, in the in the Robbie Capps Memorial Chapel of Blue Ridge Funeral and Cremation Service in Mars Hill. Family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers or gifts please consider a donation to the “Tunnels to Towers Foundation” at https://t2t.org/, one of Bob’s longtime favorite organizations which assists veterans and first responders, or to your favorite charity.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.blueridgefuneralservice.org.