STEVE ALLEN

Chi-Town member 1988 - 2009

We are saddened by the news that long-time Chi-Town Squares member, Steve Allen passed away in early May of 2009 of an apparent heart attack.

Our hearts go out to his family in Ohio and his many friends here in the Chicago area. A memorial service was held for Steve on June 20, 2009 at 1:00 PM in his condo building.

Recollections

I met Steve Allen around 1982 at MCC Good Shepard Parish. He told me a few years later that he became a member of a square dance club that met on the second floor behind the Wellington Avenue Church. He said the club was lots of fun and that I should join.


I had just lost my mother and was moving into the big city, so my plate was kinda full at the time. But shortly after – in 1997 – I joined Chi-Town Squares.


My partner Bill still credits Steve to our meeting and had told him so many times. As I have heard over and over and over: If it weren’t for Steve encouraging Tom to join Chi-Town, we would not have met! Well, OK – I guess he is right. And when I got a letter from Bill asking me out for the first time – I immediately called Steve for consultation. He gave his approval, and as the saying goes…the rest is marital bliss (or so I would like to think.)


I last saw Steve when he came to visit us out in the vast land of Indiana for the Easter weekend. We stopped by the bake sale at the Humane Society Calumet Area where I volunteer, joined me on a dog walk for the neighbor who is a psychic (let met tell you, her dog is more psycho) and had an elegant dinner (OK, pizza) with Mike (AKA: Lois) as he convalesces with a broken ankle.
The next day was church and then dinner at Bill’s Mom’s with his cousins. Eugenia, Bill’s Mom’s caregiver, is a 72 year young Polish lady who lives to have her prepared food eaten. Are you hungry??? More …More…Eat…Eat! And that’s about all the English she knows!


Steve had one of his brothers and me as emergency contacts listed in his wallet and at his condo building. Having one family member and one friend is a good idea because for some of us, those are two different worlds that don’t have contact with each other. We all have heard about making an ICE (in case of emergency) listing in our cell phones – but that is a very, very important idea to put it in your wallet too!


Thank you Steve for that idea…and thank you Steve for being my best buddy for many years. I will miss you.
— Tom Wilborn