Rodney Owen Allen

Rodney (Rod) O. Allen July 2, 1930 - February 5, 2018 Rod was born July 2, 1930 in his grandmother's house in Los Angeles (Atwater), California. He was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Rutherford Allen. Soon after his birth, the family, including his older brother and two sisters, moved to Texas for a short time and then to Oklahoma. Rod loved to share his stories of life "on the creek", where he and his brother were known as the town ruffians and his best friend was Oscar, the pig. Together Rod and Oscar were able to stay in trouble most of the time. Upon returning to California, Rod spent his teen years in Los Angeles. At the age of 17, he joined the Naval Reserves. In 1950, he transferred from the Reserves to active duty. Eventually, Rod joined the Marines and was sent to the front lines of the Korean War. He was very proud of his service with the Marines and truly believed "once a Marine, always a Marine" and modeled his life by that belief. Upon his discharge from the Marines in 1954, he began his career with the Southern California Gas Company. His first assignment was in Newhall building the first 30" gas line in California and moving gas lines to make way for the new freeways. He worked in many areas of Southern California, eventually transferring to Visalia in 1979 where he met his wife, Kathy Carrell. Together they moved to Glendale, where he eventually became staff engineer, working in the City of Los Angeles. After 35 years, he retired from the So Cal Gas, and they moved to Palm Desert, CA, before finally moving back to Visalia in 2015. Rod served as President of the Burbank-Glendale Engineers Club, Chair of the Burbank Substructure Committee and the North County Utility Advisory Committee. He was active in Veterans Affairs, Post Commander of the VFW Post 8310 in Burbank and active in American Legion Post 150 in Burbank. Rod is survived by his wife of 31 years, Kathy, his sons Richard and Jeff Sullivan and daughter Victoria Hendren, his step children Kyle Carrell and Sara Carrell Tiberi and step grandchildren, Katie Carrell, Amy, Lindsay, Kimberly and Garrett Tiberi. At Rod's request there will be no funeral services. Tributes and condolences may be made at www.salseranddillard.com