At the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Bob Allen is a legend.
“We are still talking about his visit,” said Trisha Palmer, a meteorologist for the Weather Service. “The stories he told about how they did things back then were amazing.”
On Oct. 1, Phyllis Taylor and her sister Priscilla Smith, of Greenville, S.C., got an idea. They decided to take their dad back to work, literally. They drove from their father's McDonough home to the Weather Service offices to see how much had changed in the 40 years since he retired. But when it was all said and done, Mr. Allen’s visit to the office was probably more interesting for the current meteorologists than it was for him.
“I think he really kept up with advances in technology,” Mrs. Palmer said. “But we couldn’t get enough of what he had to offer us, and what he told us about how we got to where we are today, with technology and all.”
Mr. Allen’s career with the Weather Service began in Atlanta in 1938. He’d graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., in 1936 with a degree in math and physics. Mr. Allen then took the Civil Service exam with the hope of finding a job.
“During the depression there weren’t a bunch of jobs available,” said his daughter, Mrs. Taylor, who lives in Monroe, La. “But they called him to work at the National Weather Service, and so he did.”
Mr. Allen’s background in math and physics were likely a big help in weather forecasting, Mrs. Palmer said.
“Even now that kind of background would help,” she said. “But back then, especially when there were no computers to solve equations, and they had to do it themselves, I’m sure that really came in handy.”
During his career he moved from Atlanta to Tampa, Fla., then to Charleston, S.C., and back to Atlanta. But when he came back this time, he wasn’t alone. In 1940, between his transfer from Tampa to Charleston, he came back to Atlanta and married Dorothy Smith, and they started a family. Mr. and Mrs. Allen were married almost 68 years before she died in 2008.
Mr. Allen retired from the Weather Service in 1971, after 33 years, his daughter said.
It was a day of stories, laughs and pictures, as Mr. Allen stood with current Weather Service employees and his proud daughters snapped their cameras. The next week there were more strolls down memory lane, as Mr. Allen attended Guilford College’s homecoming. He even found time to give a talk to some faculty, staff and students in the physics department, Mrs. Taylor said.
“He was really on a little good-bye tour, and we didn’t even realize it,” she said.
Robert Stuart Allen, known to most as Bob, struggled with back pain for years, his daughter said. He’d also battled prostate cancer a few years ago, and thought he had it beaten. But a year and a half ago, the cancer returned in his bones, Mrs. Taylor said. Mr. Allen died Sunday at Henry County Medical Center in his sleep. Blood clots were likely a factor, his daughter said. He was 95. A funeral service is planned for 11 a.m. Wednesday at McDonough First United Methodist Church. Burial will follow at Westview Cemetery. Cannon Cleveland Funeral Directors is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Allen is also survived by a third daughter, Dottie Green of McDonough; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren and two sisters, Marjorie Parvin and Grace Patton both of Clearwater, Fla.
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