Sandy Allen, 75, Mankato

Alexander “Sandy” Allen died Thursday, May 23 at his Mankato home, surrounded by his family. He was 75.

He was born on Aug. 7, 1948, in Marshfield, Wis., to Duane (Pink) and Ardith Allen. His family moved to Owatonna when Sandy was a boy when his dad and partners purchased the radio station KRFO.

Sandy was involved with sports in high school and sang with the Owatonna High School choir. He is a 1966 graduate of OHS. He graduated with honors from Mankato State University in 1977. He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

He married Wendy Sharits on Aug. 6, 1977, in Mankato. They had three sons, Nicholas, who preceded him in death, Nathan, and Benjamin.

Kindness and compassion were the hallmarks of Sandy’s life. His eldest son Nick, was born with severe medical challenges. Sandy met those challenges, becoming Nick’s best friend and playmate. Sandy poured his heart into his other sons, too, ensuring they had quality time with dad and doing all the things that fathers and sons do.

Sandy had a 30-year career with the Mankato ISD 77 Community Education and Recreation Department. He worked especially hard to make the puzzle of all the city’s softball fields and teams come together into a clear and fair picture. He was named to the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame in 2008.

His interest in music and singing continued throughout his life. Publicly, he sang with the Riverblenders, Soul Purpose, and the Singing Hills Chorus. Privately, he sang in the house, in the car, in the gazebo -- wherever he was he was, he was singing.

Sandy will be missed by his wife, Wendy, two sons Nathan (Sarah) and Benjamin (Cassie) grandchildren, Penelope, Cordelia, Margot, and Wells; two brothers, Chuck (Sue) Allen, Faribault; and Ben (Kris) Allen of New Hope; three sisters, Pixie Allen Evans of Faribault, Jane Calhoun and Sally Rogers, both of Red Wing, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 15 at the Northview-North Mankato Mortuary, 2060 Commerce Drive. Visitation will be for two hours prior to the service.

Memorials may be sent to Nicholas Carely Allen Memorial Nursing Scholarship at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The contributions may be sent to the Minnesota State Foundation, 126 Alumni Foundation Center, Mankato, MN 56001, with the Nicholas Allen designation. It was Sandy’s wish to continue to fund scholarships for future nursing students to learn about the care of the disabled.