"Bill" Orlando Hardin Allin Jr.

Bill, our dearly loved husband and father, passed peacefully May 2, 2016, at age 93, on a beautiful sunny morning, at home with his family. He had courageously endured Alzheimer’s for several years. Through it all he managed to maintain his well-known sense of humor and never lost his radiant smile.

Bill was born to Orlando Hardin Allin, Sr., and Viola (Saul) Allin May 31, 1922. He was a direct descendant of many pioneers and explorers including Isaac and Mary Stearns who sailed to Massachusetts from England in 1630 to settle Watertown. He was raised in Seattle near Boeing Field. With his father and grandfather, he owned the American United Shows and later, with his wife Irene, the Kiddie Land amusement park in Shoreline. Always the entrepreneur, he moved his family to Tumwater in 1969 to open two laundromats, and the Southgate Dry cleaners then an ice cream shop that catered its famous mocha-coffee mud pie to many established restaurants in the Northwest. He purchased and renovated a mobile home park in Tumwater and renamed it Allimor Carriage Estates. His mechanical skills kept things running smoothly and many tenants became lifetime friends.

Born to be a pilot Bill enlisted immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack and was commissioned an officer after earning his pilot wings. Assigned to the 87th Squadron of the 438th Troop Carrier Group, he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant and piloted a C-47 in the European Theatre of Operations.

Bill piloted wing for the lead aircraft of the US airborne invasion on D-Day, June 5-6, 1944. The 438th was personally selected by General Eisenhower and Ninth Air Force command to spearhead the airborne operations. Leading the 438th from Greenham Commons air base, the 87th TCS carried elements of the 101st Airborne's 502th PIR into the drop zones at 12:15 AM, June 6th, the initial full-scale landings of American troops into occupied France. The 438th was awarded its first Presidential Unit Citation for this action.

Lt. Allin flew in every Allied airborne assault (operation) in Europe from D-Day forward: Normandy (Neptune), Southern France (Dragoon), Holland (Market-Garden), Crossing of the Rhine (Varsity) into Germany. He also flew with the lead elements of the 438th that brought in the first aerial resupply of besieged Bastogne on December 23, 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge, enabling the American ground troops to hold out until relieved four days later.

Flying 18 missions over German-occupied territory, dropping paratroopers, hauling supplies, towing and retrieving gliders and ferrying wounded he was awarded the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters for valor in aerial combat operations against the enemy He also earned the European -African -Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the WWII Victory Medal. Near the end of the war he also flew relief air drops into Holland to feed starving civilians and evacuated prisoners-of-war from liberated prison camps.

Bill remained friends with his Air Corps buddies and visited many of the yearly reunions through 2013. He returned to France twice for the D-Day reunions and became well known to the folks of Ste. Mere Eglise, the first town liberated by the Allies.

“Drag-‘em-Oot”, the C-47 Bill flew in the Normandy campaign was found ten years ago and is based again in England, restored to its D-Day colors. The plane still flies at air shows and WWII anniversaries in Europe where parachutists jump from her. Bill climbed back into the cockpit in 2009 for the 65th D-Day anniversary performing a wing-wave over the American military cemetery in Normandy. Dad owned a number of small aircraft during his life including “Bill and Irene’s Flying Machine”.

Transiting the US after volunteering for additional service in the Pacific Theatre, he reconnected with his sweetheart Mary Irene Morris in Missouri. They were married November 17, 1945 and were partners in love and life for the rest of their 70 years together. He is survived by Irene and their four children; Nancy of Vancouver WA, Marvin, Mary and Gary (Therese) of Tumwater, four grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Bill was a founding member and past-President of the Northwestern Showmen’s Club, Tumwater Rotary and past-Post Commander of the Tumwater VFW. He was also a former Knight of Columbus. He and Irene were long-time supporters of Catholic schools, numerous scholarships campaigns and were substantial early donors for the creation of Pope John Paul II High School.

The family would like to especially thank dad’s primary caregivers, Kalista Gardner and Charles Folkerth, and the nurses of Assured Hospice. Their TLC made it possible for dad to stay home in his final weeks.

Bill’s memorial mass will be at St. Michaels Westside Chapel, Olympia on May 13th at 1:00 pm with a short reception following. Burial with military honors will be at Olympic Memorial Gardens in Tumwater at 3:00 pm.

Arrangements under the direction of Mills & Mills Funeral Home and Memorial Park, Tumwater, WA.