Obituary of Allen Short
Allen Short, 90, of Jamestown, died Saturday, December 31, 2016 in his home after a lengthy but valiant battle with Parkinson's Disease.
He was born in Buffalo, NY on March 27, 1926 at Buffalo General Hospital, the son of the late Myron and Winifred Allen Short. He attended School #22 from kindergarten through sixth grade, and then attended the School of Practice at Buffalo State for grades 7, 8 and 9. His high school years were completed at Nichols School, where he graduated in June of 1943 and was awarded the Lehigh Cup for sportsmanship in athletics and shared the Alumni Cup for best athlete. In July of 1943, he entered Colgate University in Hamilton, NY in their first World War II class that had 55 freshmen.
Allen was drafted to serve in the armed forces during his freshman year and was accepted in the U.S. Marine Corps. After boot camp at Paris Island and further training at Hadnot Pt. in North Carolina, he was assigned to the V-12 program to prepare as a platoon leader. That program was available at Colgate where he stayed and graduated in February of 1947. While at Colgate, Allen was a four-letter athlete with four years of varsity golf, four years of varsity hockey, one year of varsity football and one year of varsity soccer. He co-captained the varsity hockey team in the 1946-47 year, when the team was named national champions by the college and university ice hockey coaches
Allen moved to Jamestown in 1947 to work in sales for Laco Roofing and Laco Applicators. He married Sylvia Rohrer of Buffalo and they settled in Lakewood, NY. Together they had four children: Thomas Allen, Pamela, Diane and Catherine Alison.
After five years with Laco, Allen became a life insurance agent with Northwestern Mutual and remained in that career for 62 years until his retirement in June of 2014.
Upon his retirement, Allen was awarded a Key to the City of Jamestown by Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, who also presented Allen with a proclamation declaring "1926 through 2014 as the Allen Short Years" and calling upon all residents to "reflect upon and follow his dedication to and love for this wonderful community".
Allen was involved in several civic activities for many years, including The United Way where he served as campaign chair for one year; Jamestown Community College where he was a charter member of the JCC Foundation and served as chair for two years; and Chautauqua Institution where he served on their foundation board for two years and worked for over 50 years raising money for the annual campaign. Allen received Man of the Year awards from Jamestown Community College in 2004 and Chautauqua Region Community Foundation in 2010, as well as from WCA Hospital.
When Links Charity was founded in 1991, Allen was named Executive Director and served in that capacity for 19 years. Under his leadership along with Mary Blair and Sandy Anderson, the founders of the tournament, over $800,000 was raised in support of the Cancer Treatment Center at WCA Hospital. Allen also served as co-chair with Peter Sullivan on the hospital's capital campaign.
He was a member of The Sportsmen's Club where he was a board officer for many years and president for two. He was also a member of Moon Brook Country Club where he served on the board for two years and was President in 1960, and was also Club Champion in 1960. Allen was a lifetime member of the New York State Golf Association.
Allen is survived by his wife, Elaine whom he married in 1981; a son, Thomas Short of Panama, NY; and two daughters, Pamela (Maury) Ahlman of Gilbert, AZ and Diane (Roland) Swanson of Brockport, NY. He is also survived by two stepsons, Jeffrey (Francesca) Amann and Kevin (Josy) Amann, all of San Francisco, CA, and is the proud grandfather of twelve, great-grandfather of nineteen and uncle to eight nieces and nephews.
Allen was preceded in death by a daughter, Catherine A. Short; and three sisters, Winifred (Adam) Wyant, Jean (Bud) Hudson and Susanne (James) Brown.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 3, 2017 in the Hall of Philosophy at The Chautauqua Institution. Friends will be received from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday in the Lind Funeral Home.
The family requests memorials be made to the WCA Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 240, Jamestown, NY 14702.
