Father of Four

Ann and Allin had four children: Martha, John Jr., Kelly Ann, and Fran. His earnest devotion to the vocational life absorbed his attention but did not isolate him from participation in family and everyday activities: helping his daughter Martha and son John Jr. run their paper routes, promoting the family leadership role of Fran whom he called “chairman of the board,” and advocating for Kelly when she ran Parents for Public Schools in Jackson. In his retirement memoir, Allin acknowledged that any fear of his own failings was offset by the accomplishments of his four children: “So it doesn’t matter if I do another thing, you see. Whether I amounted to anything. As I went along -- I began to realize that I didn’t have such a great risk of being a failure if I have the insurance, all supplied by four children.” ⁷