Obituary of Allen Eugene Senear
Allen Eugene Senear passed away peacefully on Nov. 8, 2015 at home with his family.
He was the son of Francis Eugene Senear and Anne Seitz Senear, born on November 2, 1919 in Chicago. He grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, attending New Trier High School. He graduated from Williams College as class valedictorian and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his PhD in Organic Chemistry at Cal Tech in 1946, researching anti-malarial drugs for the war effort. After a year as a post-doc at the University of Illinois, he joined the faculty of University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1955 he moved to Seattle, residing in Medina, Clyde Hill and most recently Skyline in Seattle. He worked at Boeing until his retirement in 1985, and left his fingerprint on many Boeing projects, both in the aerospace and commercial airplane divisions.
Sixty-seven years ago, Allen married Virginia Harriet Koch, also of Winnetka, on July 10 1948. Four children, Allen (Trudie Loubet), Elizabeth Anne (Bert Stammerjohan), Donald (Dana Leslie) and Virginia, soon followed. Much later he was blessed with five grandchildren: Kaitlyn and Christina Loubet-Senear, and Alexander, Alaina and Maclyn Senear. Allen was always devoted to his family and friends. In addition to his beloved wife, children and grandchildren, he is survived by a large extended family.
Avid travelers, Allen and Virginia traveled to all 50 states, over 100 countries and all 7 continents. Allen loved to learn about everything, reading voraciously throughout his life. He loved the outdoors - canoeing, camping, and hiking, a love he passed on to his children. He was a life-long baseball fan (Chicago Cubs and Mariners) and enthusiastic tennis player and skier. He loved attending performances of Seattle Opera and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of St Thomas Church in Medina for 60 years, served on the Vestry, and was an usher for decades. He volunteered at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, as well as the Hope Heart Institute, which he became interested in after having heart bypass surgery in 1976.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 16 at
St. Thomas Church in Medina, WA at 11:00 am.
Allen's particular interests were Hope Heart Institute, The Nature Conservancy and Seattle Opera.