Anthony Louis Allou, Jr.

Anthony "Tony" Louis Allou, Jr

Husband of Mary McKey Allou, died on 28 April 2018.  Tony was born 29 December 1933 in Port au Prince, Haiti to Mathilde Casse Allou and Antoine Louis Allou.  Maternal grandparents were Aage Engelbreth Casse (provenance:  Bornholm, Denmark) and Ada Morales Casse (provenance: Santiago, Cuba).  Paternal grandparents were Charles Louis Allou-Wenceslaus and Marie Appoline (Irma) Alexandre Allou-Wenceslaus (both provenance: Le Saint Esprit, Martinique).

Tony came to this country with his parents and sister Irma in 1937 where they lived in Brooklyn, New York till moving to Louisville, Kentucky in 1939 and then to Tallahassee, Florida.  He graduated from Georgia Tech and served in the U.S. Navy as the Combat Information Center Officer of the destroyer the USS Floyd B Parks.  In his first WESTPAC cruise the Parks participated in nuclear weapons testing in the Eniwetok Proving Grounds in what was called Operation Hardtack I.  He participated in the development of radar tracking of high altitude balloons to predict the movement of radioactive fallout from nuclear and thermonuclear tests.  The friendships and experiences from his service were some of the most important of his life, and lasted until his death.

After release from active duty in 1960 he obtained an MS degree in polymer chemistry from Florida State University.  There he met Mary McKey, his wife of almost 52 years.  They have two sons.  In 1990, Mary and he had the good fortune of being transferred as expatriates to Augsburg, Germany, for over 2 years at the Hoechst AG facility in Bobingen in Research and Development.  His experience in Germany led him to become a confirmed Europhile. He remained active in the Floyd B Parks reunions, and was the association historian for nine years.  He retired from Hoechst-Celanese in Charlotte, North Carolina.

He had the utmost respect for all people, and determined to treat everyone he met justly, with kindness and decency regardless of upbringing or circumstance.  Over the years he was variously involved in providing humanitarian aid to migrant workers in peach groves of South Carolina, teaching adults to read, and volunteering at voting precincts.  He had an easy smile and a clever sense of humor.  Tony was a  true renaissance man - he loved to read, paint, write letters, cook, listen to classical music and opera, and had a stunning memory across a wide variety of subjects.  He enjoyed studying language, becoming adept at French and German. But mostly he enjoyed spending time and traveling with Mary. 

He is survived by his beloved wife, Mary; son Anthony III and daughter-in-law Megan Brown, grandson Anthony IV, and granddaughter Clare, all of Coralville, Iowa;  son John of Somerville, Massachusetts; and sister Irma Lucas, of Dunedin, Florida.

A memorial service will be held at Aldersgate  CCRC (Charlotte, NC) in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday, 20th of May 2018, at 2pm.  Signs will direct guests to parking and the hall.   In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders, 40 Rector St., 16th Floor, New York, NY. 10006 ;https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/onetime.cfm

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