Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 29 at Feigum Funeral Home in Pierre with Masonic services at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m., Monday, Nov. 30 at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Pierre, with the Rev. Susan Carr officiating. Burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery.
Chuck was born June 26, 1916, in Pierre to Frank G. and Alice M. (Bratton) Allen. Except for the sixth grade, Chuck received all of his education in Pierre. He graduated from Pierre H.S. in 1935, and was an all -athlete lettering in football, basketball and track and field. He was elected as senior class president and in the same year he set the South Dakota state record in the high hurdles. He later played with an independent basketball team known as Gillis Cleaners in which they went undefeated for two years.
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Following graduation Chuck went to California to work for a year, after which he returned to Pierre and worked for the State Highway Department for two years. In 1938, he enrolled in a watch-making course at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. Following completion of his training, he worked for Mines Jewelry in Wayne, Neb.
He married Vera M. Pulcifer at the Congregational UCC in Pierre on June 4, 1940. They resided briefly in Winner, where he had opened a Jewelry store in 1940. With the impending war, merchandise was rationed and difficult to obtain so he closed the store in 1941 and they moved to California.
During the next few years Chuck worked for jewelry stores in Costa Mesa and Pomona, and in the engineering department of McDonald Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica. In 1943, he moved to Flagstaff, Ariz., where he worked for Brown’s Jewelry, and in 1944 he returned to Pierre and purchased Marshall Jewelry which he and his wife operated as C. Allen Jewelry Inc. for 40 years and retiring in 1983. He and his wife continued to live in Pierre until 2004, at which time they moved to Eyota, Minn., to be near family and the Mayo Clinic.
Chuck was vice president of the Nebraska-South Dakota Jewelers Association, a charter member of the Independent Jewelers Association and is on the Jewelers “Who’s Who” list. He served his community in various capacities: as a Chamber of Commerce director, a member of Kiwanis, Rotary, Optimists and Flying Farmers. He was instrumental in forming the Basin League and was the Leagues first president and also served as president of the Pierre Cowboys baseball team.
He was a lifelong member of the Congregational United Church of Christ in Pierre and served on the Board of Trustees. He was a 50-year member of all the York rite Orders of Masonry and the Yeldus Shrine temple in Aberdeen, as well as a life member of the Elks Lodge.
Chuck was an avid sports enthusiast and enjoyed all sports on TV, loved to play golf and traveling. He always wanted to be a pilot and late in life he obtained his pilot’s license and flew a Mooney aircraft to many of his meetings and vacations.
He is survived by his son, Denis; wife, Nancy of Eyota, Minn.; grandson, Bradley, also of Eyota; grandson, David, and wife Tracy and their two daughters, Aubrey and Abigail, of Winona, Minn.
He was preceded in death by Vera, his wife of 66 years; his parents; six brothers; and two sisters.
Memorials may be directed in his name to the Shrine Crippled Children’s Hospital, 2025 East River Pkwy. Minneapolis, MN 55414. Condolences may be conveyed to the family at www.feigumfh.com
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