Timothy John Allen

SCARBOROUGH – Timothy John Allen, a veteran Maine journalist who found his great love later in life and built enduring bonds with his sprawling and adoring family, died Thursday Aug. 4, 2022, after a brief illness. He was 70.

He was born at Mercy Hospital in Portland on Jan. 25, 1952, the third of six children of Franklin B. and Mary M. Allen of South Portland. He attended local schools, graduating in 1970 from South Portland High School. He graduated 1976 summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maine in Orono and earned a master’s degree in German from Middlebury College, in Middlebury, Vt., in 1977.

A consummate journalist and proponent of accuracy and clear writing, Allen seemingly never forgot an important date, proper spelling or correct pronunciation. He was sharp even in his final days, cracking jokes with his family, gently correcting the date of an important win for his Red Sox, recalling the name of a foreign city he visited or clarifying the spelling of a loved one’s name.

Even in his hospice bed, “He kept his sense of humor and perspective on life so beautifully,” his younger sister, Nancy A. Vaughn said.

She fondly recalled their late nights in his college years when the siblings would reunite at their childhood home on Mitchell Road in South Portland to play the board game “Jeopardy” until 3 a.m. He and his brother, Christopher, were tough competitors.

“You couldn’t even try to answer while they were playing,” Vaughn said. “We’d have so many laughs.”

Famously reserved and even-tempered, his family recalled his loyalty, generosity and his dry wit, which was often delivered with a wry grin as he waited for a joke to land. He could also be single-minded.

“He was as honest as you get,” his older sister, Mary E. Allen said. “He had this impeccable moral compass and he wouldn’t vary from that.”

A history buff and intellectual who read the works of Franz Kafka in their original German, Allen nevertheless chose the unglamorous, late nights of a newspaperman. His more than 40-year journalism career was sparked by a love of news and writing and propelled by a deep appreciation for the work. Following graduate school, he started as a reporter at the American Journal in Westbrook in 1979 before getting hired by the Evening Express in Portland, where he worked from 1980 to 1983.

Allen once landed an interview in southern Maine with Edward Kennedy during the Massachusetts senator’s Democratic primary run for president in 1980. The young reporter talked his way onto the bus back to the airport where Kennedy held a flashlight over the notebook so Allen could take notes. The Secret Service admonished him for his doggedness, but a scoop is a scoop.

Allen spent the majority of his career in a wide range of reporter and editor roles at nearly every major daily newspaper in Maine: the Sun Journal in Lewiston from 1983 to 1990, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville from 1991 to 1998, and the Bangor Daily News from 1998 to 2013. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he served on the board of directors of the Maine Press Association and its Hall of Fame Committee. He was also bee master of the Maine State Spelling Bee in the early 2000s.

He returned to southern Maine in 2013 to work for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, where he served as copy editor and weekend night city editor.

Steve Ericson, the paper’s copy desk chief, credited Allen’s deep experience and knowledge of Maine. His job included running the newsroom on weekends. “He was dynamite at it,” Ericson said. “He was absolutely reliable. He was an incredible source of information on Maine. He’s been here forever. He just knows all kinds of things.”

“Tim was a serious, serious journalist, but he was extremely funny at times, and he always had this cool, calm demeanor about him. He was a gifted editor, and his news judgment was unsurpassed,” Steve Greenlee, the paper’s executive editor, said. “More than that, though, he was an honorable, kind man who we are all really going to miss.”

Allen traveled the world, including visits to Namibia, China and Europe, and attended two presidential inaugurations. But he stayed rooted in his home state of Maine, and after nearly 10 years of dating, he married his beloved Linda McRea, who had four children with her former spouse. He and “Lou” lived together in Orono and Bangor for the eight years between their wedding and her death in 2007. He never remarried and wore his wedding ring until his final days.

In the following years, he drew great joy from his relationships with his stepchildren and their children, who called him “Bubba.” He also continued to care for McRea’s ailing mother, Barbara, until her death.

“Tim was a wonderful stepfather and really doted on his 11 grandchildren,” his stepson, Corey P. Michaud, said. “He helped care for his mother-in-law late in her life. He never missed birthdays and eagerly joined our family in travels to Europe, the Caribbean and Africa.”

His stepgrandchildren shared messages of love and drawings of his favorite things on a large poster he proudly displayed near his hospital bed in his final days.

“You are so loved and cherished, and the best grandfather we could have ever asked for,” Isabel Charland wrote.

In addition to his wife, parents and mother-in-law he was predeceased by a brother, Christopher S. Allen, and a stepson, Nathan W. Michaud. He is survived by three sisters, Mary E. Allen of Surry, Katherine A. MacLeod and her husband, George, of East Orland, and Nancy A. Vaughn and her husband, Jeffrey, of Port Orange, Fla.; a brother, Peter W. Allen and his wife, Jackie Dennehy-Allen, of Dresher, Pa.; a stepson, Corey P. Michaud, and his wife, Jessica S. Mahalingappa, of Takoma Park Maryland; two stepdaughters, Maggie M. Haines, of Orrington, Maine, and Sarah D. Charland and her husband, Matt, of Fayette; a stepdaughter-in-law, Christie Michaud of Enfield, Conn.; lifelong friend Kitkoon Chan of Bellingham, Wash.; 11 stepgrandchildren and several nephews and nieces.

Visiting hours will be from 2 to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Hobbs Funeral Home at 230 Cottage Rd., South Portland, where a memorial service will begin at 3 p.m. with a reception to follow.




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