Harold C. Allen

As a young boy, he attended primary school in St. Alban’s, NY and graduated from Delehanty High School in Jamaica, Queens. He had a great childhood spending time with relatives and also enjoyed the family bungalow on weekends in Sound Beach, NY. He came from a hardworking family that instilled these values at a very early age in him. He enlisted in the US Air Force from 1957 to 1960 and three more years in the Air Force Reserves. He was stationed at many bases throughout the United States and other countries such as Germany and Japan. Growing up, Harold was an avid swimmer and he swam for the US Air Force swim and water polo team.

Harold started his career at Grumman in the early 1960’s as a part-time then eventually a full-time employee while going back to college to earn his Bachelor of Science degree at C.W. Post in electrical engineering. He loved his job at Grumman as a program manager for the E2C-Hawkeye radar plane. He continued his long career on the E2C-Hawkeye program until he retired from Grumman in 1995. This career allowed him to travel around the world securing contracts for the company. The E-2 Hawkeye remains in production and in use today! 

 He met his wife, Tina Van de Wetering while on a ski trip to Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. They were married on May 30th in 1966 and moved to Long Island where they bought their first house in Smithtown, NY. This is where Harold and Tina would raise their three children: Joseph, Peter, and Luke. Harold always enjoyed the outdoors, loved camping, canoeing, skiing, swimming and of course sailing!. They were members of the Northport Yacht Club, where they purchased a 30 ft. Catalina cruising sailboat, named “Tineke.” Many awesome family vacations took place on the Tineke from Long Island Sound to Montauk. Also, Harold and Tina both had a passion for skiing which led to them to purchase a vacation home on Lake Winnipesaukee where the family skied many seasons at Gunstock Mountain and other resorts.

 In 1991, they sold the Smithtown house and moved to Baiting Hollow, NY. Harold moved his sailboat from Northport to the Great Peconic Bay Marina where he continued to sail with family and friends. Once retiring from Grumman in 1995, he went back to school to become a land surveyor and worked for a local company for another ten years! During this time Harold and Tina enjoyed traveling the world together from the Caribbean to Europe. Once fully retired, Harold became a dedicated grandfather and loved spending time with his grandkids. Harold and Tina eventually escaped the cold weather and purchased a home in Florida where they established many new wonderful friendships. They were active members in their community of Village Walk in Bonita Springs, FL. They played countless hours of tennis and Harold was even the men’s team captain. His children and grandchildren would visit Florida frequently to spend time together.

 Harold C. Allen will be remembered as a devoted husband and family man. He had a kind, gentle and warm personality that everyone adored and he freely shared with everyone around him. He never expected much and was always grateful for what he had. He was loved by his wife, children and grandchildren and his legacy of kindness will forever remain in the hearts of his family and friends. 

Harold is survived by his wife Tina and children Joseph (Denise) Allen, Peter Allen, Luke (Elise) Allen and his sister, Claudia Allen. Also, his 7 Grandchildren Sofia, Sean, Laura, Jason, Ryan, Avery, and Jude.