David graduated high school in 1967 in Pomona, California. On September 18, 1965, he met Veronica “Roni” LaBombard at Mario’s, a teen nightclub in Pasco, Washington. They started going steady April 1, 1966 and soon he knew, she was his one true love. In October that year, he asked her how she would like to spend 60 years with him. Roni and David were married November 6, 1967.
For 51 years, he was her North, her South, her East, her West – and she his. Their first home overlooked the Willamette River in Oregon. David worked in a paper mill until his father-in-law offered him a job as a sheet metal worker in Kansas City, Missouri. He learned the trade and eventually started his own heating and cooling company, the most recent of which was Dave & Kelly’s.
With a customer base of around 8,000 people, David was highly regarded and known as an honest businessman with no pretensions. He truly cared for his customers. Indeed, even in selling his company in the wake of learning he had terminal cancer, David’s foremost concern was that his customers would be well cared for.
Throughout his life, David was a blessing and a sincere friend to countless people, always putting others ahead of himself. Though he was unpretentious, practical, and eager to have the focus be on others, anyone who knew David (or Dave) would agree: he was one in a billion.
His compassion shone through even in his final days, as did his humor and wit. When his oncologist questioned him skydiving, David answered, “Well, if I die from skydiving, at least I won’t die from cancer.” The day before he passed, a friend asked how he was doing; David smiled and replied, “I’m dying.” He welcomed friends and family at his bedside with a smile and deep caring till the end. And he welcomed his loved one’s tears, telling his wife and soul mate, it was alright if she cried; he, too, was saddened that they would soon say goodbye.
But David firmly believed that they will be together again. His faith never wavered since October 26, 1972, the day that he and Roni accepted Christ as their Savior.
In 1974, David enrolled in Tennessee Temple Bible College in Chattanooga, graduating four years later. He pastored several churches over the years and was a man of strong morals who “walked the talk.” He was a gentle, but strong, soul who loved greatly and counseled and comforted many, no matter any differences of faith or politics or beliefs.
David was not reluctant to shed tears, whether over a sappy film or when leading a funeral service. As an ordained minister, he presided over the services of many family members, including his father and mother, his father and mother-in-law, and for two brother-in-laws. He shed tears, but reminded those in mourning that one day, believers in Christ would be reunited.
Today, David Allen is in the presence of God. He has departed physically, but in spirit, he will continue to be with those who loved him and continue to be a beacon of light and faith.
He will be dearly missed by his wife, Veronica “Roni” Allen; his children, Justin Allen, Linda “Christy” Byersdorf (Dan), Rachel Howe (Jay), John Paul Allen, and Amy Mitchell (Brandon); his sister, Bonnie Irby; his brothers Dan and Mike Allen; his grandchildren, MaKayla Allen, Alex and Trevor Byersdorf, Aiden, Parker and Grace Mitchell, Samuel, Andrew, Ava and Matthew Howe, and Jessica, Jeremiah, and Joshua Allen and great grandchildren Eden and Gabriel Byersdorf, as well as many nieces and nephews whom he loved dearly.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, October 31 at Newcomer’s Noland Road Chapel, 509 S. Noland Road, Independence, MO 64050 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., with a funeral service immediately following.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to TransWorld Radio, one of David’s favorite missions, online at https://www.twr.org/donate/ or via post at TWR Donor Services, P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512; or to the Melanoma Research Foundation online at Melanoma Research Foundation or via post at 1411 K Street, NW Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005.
