Howard Wheatley Allen ’63

Howard Wheatley Allen ’63 died on February 21 at his home in Mendocino, California, of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was born and raised in Marin County, California, of an old California family and was a member of the Society of California Pioneers. He graduated from Redwood High in Corte Madera before attending Dartmouth, where he was a brother of Alpha Theta and a member of Navy ROTC. After college “Wheat” served as an officer on the USS Providence, patrolled the Saigon River in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, and was awarded a Bronze Star. Wheat was also a famous sculptor. He carved birds from an early age, using his time in the Marin County outback watching quail and other birds in their natural habitat. He made his first sale at age 9. In his early 30s, Wheat turned to bronze as the medium for his sculptures, and Gov. Ronald Reagan bought a sculpture of a family of quail as a gift for Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Wheat’s sculptures have since been given to dozens of world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev. A particularly poignant anecdote Wheat told was about the time the phone unexpectedly rang in 1994. The call was from the White House, asking if Wheat had two doves available on short notice. Fortunately, he did, and he overnighted them in time for presentation to Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussein of Jordan on the occasion of a peace treaty between those two countries. Wheat is survived by his wife of 52 years, Rosemary, two daughters, and five grandchildren.