Robert C. Allen

LIVERMORE — Robert Charles Allen, 80, of Livermore, died Wednesday, March 7, at his home on Brettun’s Pond.

He was born Feb. 9, 1932, in Swampscott, Mass., the son of Charles Leger and Winnifred L. (Durgin) Amero. He was adopted by his stepfather, Elburn Murray Allen in 1951.

Mr. Allen was a Korean War veteran and served in the Army Security Agency. He married Roberta Lois Boudreau, Sept. 8, 1956. Mr. Allen graduated from Boston University, where he received a master’s degree in geology in 1958.

Mr. Allen worked as an engineering associate at Western Electric Co. and was involved in the manufacture of quartz crystals for electrical circuits. He later became an oceanographer at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey, and was involved in route surveys and the development of equipment to protect submarine cables.

While in New Jersey, he took graduate studies at Rutgers University and for a time was a Scoutmaster for a troop in Middlesex, N.J. Mr. Allen served as an oceanographic consultant for Canadian, British and Spanish telephone companies. He lectured in oceanographic, marine geology and submarine cable topics at a number of colleges and universities; and published some of his research findings in the Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, the Bell System Technical Journal, Sedimentology, Geological Society of America Bulletin, and the magazine, Science. He was listed in American Men of Science.

In 1972, Mr. Allen and his family relocated to Naperville, Ill., where he became a course developer and instructor at Bell System Center for Technical Education. In 1974, the family again relocated to New Jersey, where Mr. Allen became the environmental coordinator for American Telephone and Telegraph Co., where he was responsible for the company’s response to environmental regulations. He retired from this position in 1987, and the family settled in Livermore.

Mr. Allen remained active during his retirement years, becoming code officer for the town of Livermore, and serving on the solid waste and the planning board. The Allens maintained a small farm on their property at the head of Brettun’s Pond.

Mr. Allen’s lifelong avocation was music. He began playing the piano at an early age and participated in classical recitals. In 1948, he became a member of a dance band in Marblehead, Mass., and later formed his own quartet. At one point, he taught piano and organ and had more than 20 participating students. He also became a square dance caller and teacher.

He and his wife, Lois, formed a square dance club called LoBo Squares while in New Jersey. After retirement, Mr. Allen and his wife traveled extensively by motor home and visited all states except Kentucky. The Allens joined the Maine Wheels Chapter of the Family Motor Coach Association and also joined a national musical chapter, the Frustrated Maestros.

Mr. Allen and his wife founded the organization’s Northeast chapter, the Yankee Doodle Dandies, which plays at motor home meets and rallies across the country and now has more than 50 members.

Mr. Allen is survived by his wife of 55 years, Lois Allen; son, Daniel and his wife, Marianne; daughters, Cindy Missler and her husband, Stephen, and Amy Warrington, all of Livermore; 10 grandchildren, Stephen and Nicholas Allen, Michael, Kristen and Caitlin Beairsto, Shane and Brianna Missler, Jonathan DeRuyscher, and Kellen and Sarah McLaughlin; and two great-grandchildren, Noah and Lola Schwenneker.