Louis "Gene" Allen

MADISON - Louis "Gene" Allen, 89, of Madison, passed away on Monday, June 14th, 2021.

Louis, known to most as “Gene" (and in the musical world as “Lou”), was born in Beloit, Wisconsin in 1932. His parents, Lou and Helen Allen, eventually moved to Madison into a lovely home on Lake Monona where their son would one day flip a speed boat. As a child, he began to enjoy playing with the newly-created stuffed animals named after Theodore Roosevelt, the “Teddy” bear. This started a life-long love that lead to a broad collection including rare specimens featured at the McFarland library exhibit. He graduated from West High School in1949.

During the Korean war, Gene joined the Navy in 1951 where he spent some time as a SONAR man aboard a submarine.

In 1954, Gene married Ferne Rosio and eventually had five children. While living in Brown Deer, he received a degree from the Milwaukee School of Engineering and worked for AC Spark Plug.

After his schooling, Gene became a skilled corrosion Engineer who along with his brother Dick, worked in their Father’s business managing municipal water works. In 1969, he relocated his family to McFarland, Wisconsin and eventually launched his own consulting firm, Earth Engineering and was highly respected in his field for decades. He worked well into his 70’s.

Among Gene’s many interests, he was an amateur lepidopterist Building a fine butterfly collection and collaborated with his friend, Jim Ebner, who produced videos about butterflies on Milwaukee Public TV.

Gene also loved a variety of music including the marches of John Phillip Sousa, jazz and polka. He became a very talented tuba player in quite a few regional bands. Over the years he performed in a number of recordings and, in 2013 He was inducted into Wisconsin’s “Polka Hall of Fame” which was unusual for a support player. He played with popular bands including Ray Dorshner’s “Rainbow Valley Dutchmen”, “Mississippi Valley Dutchmen” and Charlie Mear’s jazz band at the Avenue Bar for years.

Gene had a remarkable memory and could speak in detail about a wide range of topics quite knowledgeably. He kept his family, colleagues, and fellow musicians entertained with intriguing and amusing stories.

Amid the difficult parts that come with every human life including Gene’s, it’s fun to recall the many positive contributions he brought to us.