Phillip Allen

Canton – Phillip Parks Allen, 85, was born on January 11, 1937. He died on March 4, 2022 at home after a long illness.

A native of Buncombe County, he was preceded in death by his father, Paul Hamilton Allen and mother, Winifred Parks Allen and a brother, Paul Hamilton Allen of Haywood County.

In retirement, he grafted numerous heritage apple varieties and established an orchard near his home. Apples, watermelon, tomatoes, rhododendron and children were his favorite things.  As an avid sportsman who shared his love of nature, travel, and wildlife, he and two close friends hand-built a cabin on Hurricane Creek that he shared for decades with generations of friends and family. A member of Rockwood United Methodist Church, Mr. Allen served on disaster relief building teams, directed, with his wife, the Mountain Top Emmaus community kitchen, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and built private homes including his family home.  A veteran of the U.S. Army, he served in the North Carolina National Guard during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He worked in industry at Champion Papers as an electrician for 35 years retiring in 1994.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Estelena Robinson Allen, a daughter, Clara Allen Curtis (David) of Clyde, a son, Roy Allen (Dawn) of Clyde, two granddaughters, Ellen Anne Yanik (John) of Nashville, Tennessee and Emma Curtis Ryan (Kevin) of Los Angeles, California, one brother Gedwin Allen (Barbara), Canton, N.C. and one great grandson.

Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, March 7, 2022, in the Canton Chapel of Wells Funeral Home with the Reverend Eric Hill and Reverend Don Turman officiating.  The family will receive friends from 12:15 until 1:45 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.  Burial will follow at Clarks Chapel Cemetery, Crabtree Mountain Road.

Memorials may be directed to Rockwood United Methodist Church, 288 Crabtree Mountain Road, Canton, NC  28716 or The North Carolina Arboretum, 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC 28806.

The care of Mr. Allen has been entrusted to Wells Funeral Homes of Canton and an online memorial register is available at “Obituaries” at www.wellsfuneralhome.com