10 Things You Didn't Know...(Part 2) David Allen

Today, our series called 10 Things you didn't know about your Funeral Director continues with David Allen. David is Todd's younger brother, and partner. David is working mainly at the Sun City location.  He has been hard at work in recent weeks getting our new location ready to move into, and we are almost finished!  We are excited to be moving into that location in April!  Stay tuned for pictures and more information.  Here are some things you might not know about David:


1.  David is also from a family of nine kids. He is, in fact, Todd's younger brother. Like Todd he wanted to do medicine but soon realized after spending many hours and days at the library socializing instead of studying that medicine was not for him. After much searching and he realized the funeral profession is where he can serve the people in our community most. He graduated from the Mesa Community College Mortuary Science Program in 2002.

2.  David speaks fluent Spanish which comes in handy here in Arizona.  He learned Spanish while serving a mission for his church to Argentina leaving Aug. 1995.  He lived there for two years where he developed a greater love for God and a deep love for the Latino people.

3.  David dreamed of competing in the 1996 Olympics. He spent his senior year in high school away from his family training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado.  He specialized in Olympic lifts (the clean & jerk and the snatch).  During his time at the training center, one day his dad received a phone call  from David's trainer.  He was concerned about David. Every morning around 5am a girl would come and pick David up, and then after a hour or two she would drop him off.  The trainer was concerned that David had a secret girlfriend and was messing around.  David's trainer was very shocked and surprised when David's Dad told him that they knew about this activity and that David was in fact going to a religious class every morning!  After all that training, sacrifice, and hard work, David decided to serve a mission for God and miss the 1996 Olympics knowing that taking 2 years off of training meant never going to the Olympics.

4.  A little known fact is that David and his wife had their first date on April's Fools Day and were engaged  two weeks later. They were married by the middle of June that year and expecting two months after that. When Dave wants something he is willing to go after it and work hard. =)  They have married for over 12 years, and have 4 beautiful children, Schuyler, Kirkland, Roe, and Jeri.

5.  David loves to do things with his kids like swimming, playing ball, rough housing, and even taking piano lessons. Every Tuesday morning at 5:30 am David and three of the kids load up the car and go to piano lessons.  David is improving... just not as quickly as the kids are.

6.  David has many talents and strengths, but kayaking is not one of them. While visiting his new in-laws and trying to still make a good impression he agreed to go kayaking. The picture says all that needs to be said.

7.  David has a not so secret love.  He loves to listen to talk radio.  David's kids groan when Dad drives because they have to listen to talk radio instead of music. 

8.  David has a very special bond with his daughters.  They have him wrapped around their finger. His oldest daughter who is in kindergarten was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease which means a completely gluten free diet. This has been a big change in her life.  Under the doctor's counsel the rest of the family was tested.  When the results came back and David too had Celiac Disease. When he told his daughter that he too had Celiac Disease, she stood up, threw her arms in the air and cheered. She was so excited to not be the only one to have special food.

9.  David enjoys nature and hunting. After waiting for 13 years to be drawn out, finally David was drawn out for the coveted archery elk hunt in 2012.  He was able to bring home the prize, a fact he brings up to his family every chance he can. He is the first in the Allen family to shoot archery elk.

10.  David is an eagle scout and has been involved in the scouting program off and on all his adult life.  For his eagle scout project he helped to close off unofficial trails to help preserve nature.  Even unofficial trails can be wrought with unseen danger like the time David was mountain biking in the desert with friends.  It was hot so he removed his shirt, only to have a biking accident and land spread eagle face down in a patch  of cactus. After his friends stopped laughing they were able to help him up where he spent several hours picking out cactus thorns/spikes. That's the joy of being an Arizona boy!