Adieu Mr. Allen

Eugene Allen - July 12, 1919 - March 31, 2010

On March 31, 2010, Eugene Allen died, he was ninety years old. The news of his death made me sad and proud all at the same time. I would have been proud to have known him, to have been his daughter or for him to have been my son. His path was one my own feet would never step upon, his eyes were witness to events my own eyes will never see and his ears heard many things that even his own lips would never repeat. There were doubtless many famous and important hands that shook the hand of Eugene Allen.

In 1952 he was in his early thirties and heard of a job opening at the White House. He was hired as a pantry man for $2,400 a year, his job involved washing dishes, stocking cabinets and shinning silverware. It was during the Reagan presidency that Mr. Allen became maitre d', this being the most prestigious position among White House butlers. For thirty-four years he worked in the White House, he served eight presidents and during that period was privy to many historical conversations, some that would have a direct effect on his own life.

Mr. Allen and his wife, Helene, were invited to attend a State Dinner as guests of then President and Nancy Reagan. At dinner that night he enjoyed as a guest the champagne that only earlier in the day he himself had stacked in the White House kitchen. Many young people questioned him as to why he would keep working as a butler with its connotations of subservience, but Mr. Allen's reply was always that the job gave him great pride.

He worked until his retirement in 1986. His wife of sixty-five years passed away on the eve of the 2008 presidential election, he would go to vote alone on yet another historic occasion in his long life. On January 20, 2009 he would receive a VIP invitation to attend the swearing-in of President Obama, complete with a Marine guard escort to his seat. His own pride shown through his tear glisten eyes that day as he watch the first black man take the oath of office of President of the United States.