Roy Eugene Allen, known to all as Gene Allen, died peacefully on September 2, 2023, in Granbury, Texas, at the age of 92. Gene was born in Palacios on June 15, 1931, and lived the majority of his life there. Even when he lived in Houston and Pasadena as a child and teenager, he visited his extended family in Palacios every weekend and school holiday he could. He loved fishing and getting into lighthearted mischief with his brother Perk. Basketball was also a passion of Gene’s, and being tall and thin and athletic, he played to great acclaim for the Pasadena High School Eagles. He would go on to play basketball on a community team in Palacios in the 1960s, sponsored by Jimmy and Pie Flores, until a knee injury forced his early retirement from the team.
In 1951, during the Korean War, the United States Air Force came calling with promises of an apprenticeship in the machining and tooling program. Gene signed up readily but was soon shipped off to Greenland, where the apprenticeship never materialized, to his lasting chagrin. He instead worked on American and British airplanes stopping over to refuel before heading to their destinations. After four years of bitter cold, blue glaciers, and midnight sun volleyball, he received his honorable discharge from the Service in 1955.
Gene headed back to Texas and attended the University of Houston to obtain his machining and tooling certification. He thereafter moved to Palacios permanently, much to the delight of his extended family and friends. He welcomed the balmy temperatures of Palacios and went fishing with his Dad and Uncle Jimmy every chance he got. Fishing was his passion. Even the coldest days of winter could not stop him from early morning wade fishing.
Alcoa Aluminum Refinery in Point Comfort hired him on in the machining and tooling department in the late 1950s, where Gene was at last able to realize his longtime dream of fabricating parts out of Aluminum and other metals. In 1959, a fiery redhead working as a carhop caught Gene’s attention, and soon he and Patricia Talmadge were married and starting a family. They remained married just shy of 40 years, ending when Pat died of cancer in 1999.
There was no bigger supporter of Palacios High School football than Gene Allen. Not only would he attend every Palacios Sharks home and away game for nearly 40 years, he could often be seen at weekday evening practices with his friends and fellow football fans Arnold Serna, Jeff Hammonds, and Billy Dan Bradshaw in his famous golf cart. He proudly wore his red-and-white Palacios Sharks windbreaker and trucker hat everywhere he went.
When Gene finally retired from Alcoa in the mid-1990s, he immediately took up woodworking, amassing an impressive collection of table saws, scroll saws, and planers, all of which he soon mastered. His artistic creations included gingerbread trim for houses, mailboxes, intricately designed clocks, corner shelves, jewelry boxes, anything his imagination could dream up.
Gene and Pat and family were members of the First United Methodist Church of Palacios. He especially enjoyed singing in the choir for many years. Gene was johnny-on-the-spot on Sundays, getting to the church early in the morning to turn on the air-conditioning or heating systems to make sure everything was ready for services.
In 2015 Gene underwent quadruple bypass surgery, followed in 2016 with a bout of West Nile Virus. The combination proved to be overwhelming to his system, and he decided he would live with family in Granbury and sell his beloved home in Palacios. Even though Granbury was no substitute for Palacios, Gene enjoyed its small town nature and friendliness. He went to Pam’s Diner every morning at 6:00 a.m. to have breakfast at the “geezer table” with other retired gentlemen. After a couple of days, the waitresses knew to bring him his coffee (black) and his breakfast (two eggs over easy and two pieces of toast). He was a regular fixture at Pam’s until shortly before his passing.
Gene is preceded in death by wife Pat Allen, parents Roy Allen and Vivian Cox Allen, and brother Raymond “Perk” Allen. He is survived by his three children: Melody Allen of Cedar Park, TX; Ray Allen of Hyannis, MA; Bruce Allen and wife Kim Lawler Allen of San Antonio, TX; granddaughter Rickie Lee Farah and husband Ken Farah of Dallas, TX, and great-grandson George Gilbert Farah; sister Elizabeth Allen Hogg and husband Roy Lee Hogg of San Antonio, TX; sister Linda Allen Matlock of Granbury, TX; nephew Robert Hogg and wife Jeannie Hogg; great-nieces Jennifer Hogg and Brianna Hogg, and extended family.
Visitation will be Thursday, September 7, 2023, 9:00-10:00 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 3rd and Lucas, Palacios, TX, followed by funeral services at 10:00 a.m., with graveside services to follow immediately.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you plant a pine tree in Gene’s honor, and think of him every time you cast out into the bay.
To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Eugene “Gene” Allen, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.