My friend Allen Day passed yesterday after a long illness at 53 years of age.
He was a loving husband and father. A man of great faith.
A passionate, knowledgeable hunter.
He will be missed.
I am simply crushed! I never met him other than on the 'fire but as you mentioned, I "knew" him as a man of great faith. I repeat I am crushed! I am weeeping.
Wow, just WOW! So saddened to hear of this. I was aware that he was very ill, but did not expect this. Prayers for his family.
Oh my goodness. Karl, best wishes to you and to his family.
I looked forward to his knowledge here, and, the illness helps explain his long absence from the fire.
Damn....just damn.
Jorge was kind enough to update me on Allen's condition several months ago. Very sad and unfortunate to hear of his passing. My prayers and condolences go out to his family. May they find peace and comfort.
Allen was always generous with his time and advice. I spoke with him a handful of times, and he was always to a fault a gracious gentleman. He steered me in the right direction on more than one occasion.
He will be sorely missed.
This is such sad news. I did not know he was ill. He will be missed, prayers sent to the family.
God bless...
This is very sad news indeed. I knew Allen only through the fire here where I posted a few pictures for him and had some exchanges on hunting Africa with him. From my standpoint he was a good man with high ideals and lived up to them in his professional and personal life. One thing I know in my heart is that Allen used his hunting time extremely well and in the short time he had on this earth he made some incredible safaris. I'm sure he was glad to have done so at the end. I've missed him since he left the fire and will now sorely miss him since I know he won't be back.
Test
I just received the word via Darcy Echols...sad day indeed and one I thought would have come before now. Allen and I enjoyed several campfires together in years past and he was indeed a true gentleman. I will certainly miss our weekly phone visits and the planning we discussed concerning rifles and hunting trips. RIP my friend.
Tough news for sure, AD was one of the good guyz and a guy who knew how to get it done!
Dober
My prayers and thoughts go out to Allen's family and friends. He was a very experienced man who took the extra time to help out those in need. He is indeed missed.
Sad news, indeed. I enjoyed Allen immensely when he posted, and have missed his opinions and expertise. The Campfire has lost a good one.
Right now he is on a grassy plain somewhere with a .300 Win Mag Legend in hand...
Vaya con dios.
I have been missing him post here, it is sad news.
My thoughts and prayers are with Allens Family. I had the oportunity to talk via e-mail to Allen at length on several topics before he left the campfire two years ago. We talked about God, Guns, and Family on several occations. The day he asked me if I was a Christian, I knew I was in good company. I know that today he is in a better place, and that I will meet him for the first time after this life fades.
Allen helped me build my first semi-custom rifle, I now feel even more honored to own it, knowing he played a major roll in its building.
He will be remembered, & missed.
I'm on travel and I just received the sad news via email from John Sharp. A lot of us that knew Allen were aware he was terribly ill, but we aquiesced to his desire for discretion and tried to dance around the subject every time the "Where is Allen Day" post would come up. Allen was a good friend to me, always helpful and a great teacher for me when I booked my first safari and he recommended John Sharp. All of us and indeed the hunting community will miss him. RIP Allen. jorge
Sorry to hear of his passing. Good guy. Now he is in a better place.
That's very sad news indeed.
Allen was a good guy forsound, tested advice. I miss ticking him off...
A BTDT kind of guy, with the hands on to back it up.
This is sad to read and explains his leaving the forums.
Best wishes to his family and friends.
Boy that is just so sad to read. After reading him here a few times, I always searched him out on what he had to say. He had common sense born of experience. Life is not fair, we know that but this just emphasizes that fact.
Prayers to the family.
Darn good fellow. Did some business with him a few years ago. He was (and will be) missed.
Rest in peace...
This is not the sort of thing I wish to hear, to young of a man to go at 53. I only know Allen from here and some PM's back and forth over the years. I am at lost for the words. There is nothing more to say. I am sure that he is now on that Endless Safari.
This is very sad news to hear. My thoughts and prayers go out to Allen's family. Tonight Allen shares a small gleaming campfire with hunters from another time, such as Selous, Taylor, Bell and others.
Mike
Very sad, I enjoyed his informative posts. Been reading them for a long time both here and on AR
Allen may have left us at only 53 but he lived life larger than most of us ever will.
Sorry to hear that. I never met him but I always enjoyed his posts.
A very sad day. I learned alot from Allen reading his posts. I have copied many of them. I will pray for him and his family.
Over on AR one of the guys posted a tribute photo album to Allen. Karl and I agreed that it was fitting and Allen would have liked them. I am re-posting it here.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-11/1106195/2133230
Yeah Steve, thanks for posting that. Its been so long since he posted, but the photos made me recognize him immediately. I barely knew him through this forum.53 is way too young to leave the party..
I hope the Red Gods smile on him in the next life, as much or more than they did in this one...
Ingwe
Steve and Karl, thank you very much for that.
Very sad to hear that Allen has passed away. I spoke to Allen several times on the phone and bought a knife from him in the classifieds. Allen was the kind of person that you could send cash and never worry about needing a papaer trail very honest and straight forward. The world could use more like that.
He will be deeply missed....
Very sad news. His family has my condolences and prayers.
JPK
So sad. So young. My condolences.
maddog
I did not know him for long,nor as well as others on here,but as a new CF member, I was privileged to communicate with him and had a good many enjoyable phone conversations. His knowledge was exceptional,he was passionate as to both his hunting and rifles, and a forthright and honest gentleman.
I knew of his illness and am saddened by his passing. We've all been diminished.
Sad news for sure, I only new him through posts and some PM's but he sure seemed like a stand-up guy, a loss for all.
I greatly enjoyed reading his posts and was impressed by how helpful he was. Sad to hear of his passing. Its nice to know that he made good use of the time he had. God Bless Allen.
Well said Jim. He was a good man. I miss him. E
I talked to my brother last night about this final chapter of a person's life and it is a very sad thing for sure. Allen and I disagreed on a few things, we were both obviously highly opinionated, but I always respected the fact he never wavered from his beliefs. It always makes things easier to discuss when you know what to expect from the other person and there was no doubt what you could expect from Allen. Rarely was his opinion not based on his personal experiences and he had a ton of actual experience. It is pretty hard to find fault with a person such as that, and it is without a doubt a quality worth striving for.
Our best e-mails and P.M.s concerned Jack O'Connor and the rifles Earl Milliron made for Jack. Allen knew Milliron very well personally and knew about all the rifles he built for Jack. He was very helpful and gracious with his knowledge on the subject. He mentioned once that he was thinking about writing an article on the subject and I encouraged him to do so, as he may very well have been the only person who could do so. Sadly I have lost what he did tell me about the rifles in a computer mishap. In the last year or so e-mails and P.M.s went unanswered so I was quite sure something was wrong. It was a real shock when my brother e-mailed me about his passing.
As others have mentioned, it is very sad when a person as young as this passes on. I trust his family and close friends have many treasured memories and hopefully they will ease some of the pain in the coming days. I am thankful for what I knew about Allen and will remember him most as a person of good character and abundant personal knowledge of what he spoke about. He was truly a man to "Ride the river with".
He will be deeply missed....
For sure!
Jayco
wow, very sad to hear. He will hunt more, kill more, and know more about that than I ever will. I always appreciated his stories and he was always nice enough to respond to a pm.
rest easy Mr. Day
I'm much saddened by this news. Condolences to his family and friends.
His best trait, it seemed to me, was he usually agreed with me...or maybe it was the other way around.
RIP, Bwana Allen.
Sad news for sure. I've read several posts where Allen expressed his faith. I know there is a campfire where he is now.
My prayers go out to his family.
Terry
Dear Allen,
I really enjoyed the times that we spoke together. You were always very honest and insightful. You shared strong family values and work ethic. You provided me guidance, you were patient and kind, you mentioned going hunting with me one day...that will have to wait for a while now!
Happy hunting and my most sincere condolences for your family and friends,
Very best wishes,
Louis
Sad to read of his passing. He was a bigger then life character and I guess that makes it that much harder to comprehend. A lot of very hard earned knowledge and wisdom left with him.
God Bless and RIP.
Esteem every man but none too highly.
I suspected this was coming for many months, after learning about his illness from D'Arcy. Like Jorge, I knew that Allen was choosing to deal with it privately, so I did my best to honor that. Godspeed to him.
I've known Allen for eleven years, and count him a friend. When he and Beth were in Bozeman two years back it was a pleasure to spend time over lunch and a beer. Allen is a Christian and I know where he is. He's not resting in peace, he's shouting for joy right now... I'm glad his suffering is over.
Wow - sad news. I only corresponded with Allen via email but he was always willing to listen and offer advice. I'm glad to hear he is in a better place. He will be missed on the 'Fire.
Very sad to hear of Mr. Day's passing. I always appreciated his posts here, and he truly was a good man as evidenced by his participation and thoughtful words. My condolences to his family and close friends.
I'm glad he's in a better place--and I know he would want to be there more than anywhere in this old world, including Africa.
I have missed his posts, his clear reasoning, his experience-based thoughts. For some reason, Allen came across to me as someone I felt I could PM and get a helpful answer. And he always answered, thoughtful, helpful considerate, encouraging. That�s so rare nowadays. I was and still am impressed by Allen Day.