Allen, Glenn S., 1914-2001

Allen was born on Jan. 8, 1914 in Kalamazoo (Mich.). He earned a law degree from Columbia University (1939). After establishing a law practice in Kalamazoo he was elected to the City Commission. During World War II he served as an Assist. Judge Advocate of the 94th Div. and as legal adviser to Gen. Patton. After the war, Allen spent 14 years with the firm of Crum, Allen, and Mullen. He served as mayor of Kalamazoo, 1951-1959. Pres. Eisenhower appointed him to the local Government Subcommittee of the Interanl Relations Commission. In 1961 he was elected as a delegate to the Mich. Constitutional Convention. Allen served as Dir. of the Budget under governors Romney and Milliken. He also served as Milliken's legal adviser. From 1974 to 1986, Allen served on the Mich. Court of Appeals. He continued to hear cases after he retired, commuting by boat from Mackinac Island. A long time resident of Mackinac Island he died on Nov. 6, 2001 in DeWitt. He was survived by two daughters, two step-daughters, and their families. His three wives preceded him in death: Virginia Allen (d. 1974); Marion Turner Smith Allen (d. 1983); and Marjorie Tracey Allen (d. 2000). (Information from the obituary.).

Judge Glenn S. Allen, Jr. was born on January 8, 1914, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He attended Amherst College in 1933 and transferred to Kalamazoo College where he earned an AB degree in 1936. In 1939, he received a law degree from Columbia Law School in New York City. From 1939 to 1940, he clerked for Michigan Supreme Court justices William W. Potter and Emerson Boyles. He was drafted in 1942 and served in the United State Army. He became an assistant Judge Advocate of the Third Army's 94th Division and a legal advisor to General George S. Patton. He earned four battle stars and one bronze star. After the war, Allen served in local government of the city of Kalamazoo, first on the Kalamazoo City Commission (1945-1951), then as mayor (1951-1959) and lastly, as a city commissioner (1958-1961). After he left the City Commission in 1961, he was a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention (1961-1962). In 1962 he made an unsuccessful run for State Treasurer. Michigan Governor George Romney then appointed him State Controller. Following a governmental reorganization, Romney named Allen Budget Director in 1966. Allen remained in that position until 1971. That year he assumed new duties as Governor William Milliken's Special Counsel for Legal, Fiscal, and Legislative Affairs. In 1973, Milliken appointment him to fill a vacancy on the Michigan Court of Appeals. In 1974 Allen was elected to serve a six-year term as an Appeals Court Judge. He was re-elected in 1980 and retired from the court in 1987. Allen was married three times. Virginia Verdier was his first wife and mother of his two children, Holly and Susan. He wed Virginia in 1944 and the marriage lasted until her death in 1974. Marion Turner Smith was his second wife; they were married inn 1979. The marriage lasted until Marion's death in 1983. In 1985, Allen married Marjorie Cole Tracy. Marjorie died in 2000. Glenn S. Allen, Jr., died on November 6, 2001.