William “Bill” Allen, 78, of Narragansett peacefully passed on Saturday, March 25 at Elderwood of Scallop Shell, where he spent his last days with Alzheimer’s disease. He was the beloved husband of Marlies (Brutsch) Allen for 56+ years.

Born in Vernon, Alabama, Bill was the son of the late William and Hazel (Strawbridge) Allen. Living for the most part in Florida, particularly in Jacksonville where he attended the Robert E. Lee High School before heading north to the US Coast Guard Academy. There in New London, he accomplished both a graduation with honors and marriage to a Brooklyn gal. As a fresh ensign, he served on a cutter in the Gulf of Mexico (Mobile, Ala.) and North Pole (Brooklyn, NY) as officer on an icebreaker before moving back to Fernandina Beach, Florida as a reservist, engineer at Rayonier, and loving father of three new additions, Bill, Rob, and Beth.

In a career change, Bill (and family) attended the University of Florida where he received his master’s and doctoral degrees in business administration, accepting a position as professor at the University of Rhode Island. He ended his tenured career at UMass Dartmouth as professor emeritus and department head, along with a successful consulting association at WPI in Massachusetts.

Bill deeply loved his family, feeling quite blessed bringing up the family here and seeing his children grow into adults with families of their own, his daughter staying local and his first son moving to South Carolina. He was loved by many and in turn freely gave of his time to those in need, serving as Elder in the First Baptist Church of Narragansett. During retirement, he took up the hobby of genealogy providing the family with a well-researched look into the past. He loved his grandchildren very much and delighted in any and all time spent with them. His bright blue eyes and big smile will be deeply missed.

Visiting hours will be held at the Avery-Storti Funeral Home, Wednesday from 4-7, with a service of Christian homecoming at 10am Thursday in the First Baptist Church of Narragansett. Burial will be in New Fernwood Cemetery, Kingston. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the First Baptist Church of Narragansett, 305 Kingstown Rd, Narragansett, RI 02882 or CareNet Rhode Island, 35 Greenwich Street, Providence, RI, 02907. .K