Donald Allan Obituary

Donald E. Allan

January 16, 1950 - October 9, 2025

Donald "Don" Allan, age 75, of Toledo, OH, passed away on October 9, 2025, after a hard-fought battle with heart failure. His illness never affected his heart's ability to love big, and the love and support he showed to his significant other, Pam Rybak, and two daughters, Stephanie (JB) Wissman and Courtney (Geoff) Heiple, was undiminished.

Don was raised with his brother, Ronald "Skip" Allan, in Norwalk, OH, to parents, Wayne and Betty Allan. After graduating from Bowling Green High School, he went on to obtain a bachelor's degree from the University of Toledo and worked in the Toledo-area as a retail manager, a career path which he quite honestly loathed.

He and his former wife, Nancy Allan, raised their daughters, Stephanie and Courtney, in Sylvania, OH, where Don's love of women's soccer was established as he proudly coached Courtney's soccer teams. He loved traveling the state for her soccer tournaments and cherished the friendships he developed with other parents during these years.

Throughout their youth, Don's daughters could often find him cuddling their family cat, Cleo, manning the grill, or attending family gatherings from behind the camcorder. He also delighted in scaring his daughters, with whom he loved to watch scary movies. He was known to tempt fate by saying "Bloody Mary" or "Candyman" two times until they would scream for him to "PLEASE STOP!" before the third utterance, in fear of a ghost's wrath. For some reason his daughters both look back on this torture with fondness.

Later in life, Don reconnected with his high school sweetheart, Pam, and the next phase of his life began. Throughout their 20 years together, Don and Pam built a simple and beautiful life together, surrounded by wonderful friends and neighbors. One of his favorite past times were their weekly Friday night dinners with dear friends, each week at a different restaurant.

Through their relationship, Don gained two stepsons, Andy (Chris) Brim, and Brian Brim, and the sweetest dog, Lupe, who was indeed a good boy. He also became a grandpa and had the best time with grandchildren, Paige, Owen, Grace, Max, Carson, Lilly, Vivi and Evie, and great-grandchildren, Lottie and Haze. His kind blue eyes and teddy-bear-like snuggles made him an instant hit with the kiddos.

Passionate about aviation, Don's biggest regret in life was not becoming a professional pilot. He sated his desire to fly by joining EasternHops Flight Sim Community, where he built wonderful friendships. He absolutely loved his weekly Sunday internet radio slot as "DJ Turbolicious," spinning oldies (with a special love of Sinatra) for his fellow flight sim buddies. It was always fun (and confusing) to hear him refer to his friends by their pilot call signs, saying things like, "'Pizza' helped fix my computer today."

Don was also very serious about his coffee. One of his prize possessions was a De'Longhi espresso machine, which he cleaned, polished and cared for the way others might a vintage car. Every afternoon at 3:30 will forever be thought of as "latte:thirty" in our family, and we will miss receiving a lovingly brewed and steamed latte from our favorite barista.

An avid University of Michigan Wolverines football fan, Don could be found glued to the TV on game days, getting entirely too worked up about "a stupid game" (his daughter's words). In fact, in later years he was banned from watching games live for fear his undying passion may induce a heart attack.

When not yelling at the TV during football games, Don could often be found in "his chair" watching YouTube videos on his iPad. If there was someone fixing a carburetor on a 1928 Ford, house boating through European waterways, or landing an airplane on a really small runway, he wanted to see it! We suspect he single-handedly increased page views for some of the most painfully boring content on the internet.

Don was a sweet, sentimental guy. Those of us lucky enough to know him knew we were loved. So many silly little things make up a person's life and personality, and we will miss all his so very much.

Don's family will be holding a celebration of life in the Toledo area at a later date. If you would like to honor Don's memory, may we suggest adopting a cat from your local animal shelter. But if necessary, in lieu of pet adoption, the family encourages you to donate in his memory to Paws & Whiskers Cat Shelter in Toledo, OH.

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