John Dutton Allen, aged 81, of Ashland City, Tennessee, peacefully passed away on Sunday, June 9, 2024, at his home.
He was born on January 8, 1943, in Providence, Rhode Island, to the late John Unsworth Allen and Sydney Wilma (Hoover) Allen.
He served as an Army officer from 1967-1987, then worked for the CIA until 2007, then for General Dynamics until 2010.
John received a BS in Architectural Engineering from Texas A&M in 1967 and during his careers earned two Engineering related Masters’ Degrees.
One of John’s Army tours of duty was in Vietnam in 1969 where he was awarded a Bronze Star for Valor for actions against the Vietcong Army while leading rescue efforts to extract an artillery firing battery from a mountain top fire base.
Another of his Army postings, in April 1983, was in Beirut, Lebanon as an advisor to Lebanon’s Army. John was in the American Embassy when it was destroyed by a terrorist truck bomb. He assisted in the rescue of several US staffers and was awarded the Joint Service Accommodation Medal for these efforts.
John’s CIA career consisted of designing, building and maintaining mission ground facilities which controlled the agency’s worldwide satellite overhead resonance missions.
During his lifetime he lived in 30 different countries.
God’s providence brought John and Carole together in 2017 and in 2018 John and Carole married.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Wilma (Unsworth) Allen; and wife, Janet Lenore (Nogle) Allen.
He is survived by his wife Carole; a twin brother, Tom (Shirley) of Phoenix, AZ; a sister Sydney “Jill” of Provo, UT; Carole’s daughters, Kimberly and Leigh Ann; four granddaughters; two grandsons; three great-granddaughters; and several nieces and nephews.
His family members remember him as a kind, gentle, caring brother, uncle, dad and spouse, etc., as well as a strong believer in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Memorial service will be Saturday, June 15, 2024, at 12 noon at Calvary Bible Church at 5245 Highway 41-A, Joelton, Tennessee 37080. Visitation will be the same day as the service from 10 am until the service hour of 12 noon.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Calvary Bible Church Benevolence Fund.
Cheatham County Funeral Home LLC 615-792-2552 online condolences may be made at cheathamcountyfh.com
For more obituaries visit https://cheathamcountysource.com/obituaries/
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