Joseph Allen

Joseph "Joe" Allen, age 89 of Grey Eagle, died Thursday, November 3 at Pine Villa Care Center in Melrose.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, November 7 at Faith Community Church in Burtrum. Rev. Rodger Schmidt will officiate with private inurnment at Moses Dane Cemetery, near Burtrum.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Grey Eagle and one hour prior to the service Monday at the church.

Joe Allen was born October 20, 1916 in Sauk Centre, Minnesota to Harry and Iva (Shutter) Allen. On June 3, 1936 he married Neva Raatz at the Free Methodist Church in Burtrum, Minnesota. From 1944 until 1998 they farmed northeast of Burtrum. In 1998 he moved to the Village View Apartments in Grey Eagle, where he resided until July, 2005 when he moved to Pine Villa Care Center in Melrose.

Joe was a bricklayer for 51 years, from the Canadian line to the Gulf of Mexico, building many fireplaces, churches, schools and shopping centers. He received flight training and soloed on October 8, 1964 with a Cessna 175 and then joined the Civil Air Patrol in Little Falls.

Joe was a member of Faith Community Church in Burtrum, the Grey Eagle-Burtrum Lions Club, was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellowship in 1996 from Lions, served as a board member of the Grey Eagle Housing Association and the Grey Eagle Library, was a blood drive volunteer for eight years, was a member of the Lone Eagles Auto Club and loved to drive his 1929 Model A Ford in parades.

At the age of 82 he became the second oldest person in the state of Minnesota to receive his GED, which was from the Grey Eagle-Long Prairie School. He served as a foster grandparent for over five years and was known as "Grandpa Joe" to elementary students in Grey Eagle and Hispanic students in Weslaco, Texas. He received a Certificate of Excellence for his Foster Grandparent Service from the State of Texas. In September, 2002 he enrolled at St. Cloud State University, where he was the oldest student, got an "A" in the class and received a letter from the president of the university stating that Allen was an inspiration to all the members of the school. Joe was honored as Todd County's 2003 Outstanding Senior Citizen.

Survivors include son, Galen (Geri) Allen and daughter, Joyce (Hoyt) Karnes, all of Burtrum; 11 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; brother, Ivan (Alice) Allen of Grey Eagle; and sister, Marcella Christian of El Paso, Texas.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Neva Allen on December 19, 1996; and brothers, Harold, Lloyd and Ted Allen.

Serving as casket bearers will be Jerry and James Karnes, Ben and Joel Mayers, John DeFoe, III and John DeFoe, IV. Honorary bearers will be Shirley Hunter, Shelly Barthel, Shari DeFoe, Shannon Karnes and Shanelle Mayers.