Remembering Oscar Allen

The St. Andrews Equestrian Program lost a true friend this week. Oscar Allen who was 80 years young died after a short illness. Until a few weeks ago, Oscar was still working mowing, weed eating, raking and watering the plants as needed. He would help out with stall cleaning and worked alongside the maintenance crew. Oscar knew everyone and everyone knew Oscar and loved and respected him. He loved to joke and kid around and would be quick to tell you a story which was often totally unrelated to the topic of conversation. As he got to the punch line he would start giggling and laughing and you just had to join in whether you “got it” or not! Oscar was never one to say anything negative and was always happy and upbeat. Oscar did not have a cell phone and several times a day he would say, “got a call my sweetie” and would go to the nearest land line to call his wife Irene. Over the years Oscar had a variety of vehicles which he would drive around the equestrian center often with tools and the weed eater balanced on the hood or roof. The tools were never in danger of falling off as he was super respectful of the 15 mph speed limit. So much so that as he headed down the drive way just ahead of the runners participating in the 1 mile run for a recent fitness test, organizer Heather Wile was heard to say, “That is not the pace car, you may pass it” and everyone knew what she was talking about!


Oscar’s wife Irene worked for Shelby and Tom French in the late 70s and early 80s. She was nanny to their daughter Diana and kept house for the Frenchs’s. Oscar worked for McCarter Electric and also helped out with maintenance around Singing Wood Farm which was where the equestrian program started. In the early years he was the sole stall cleaner, did all the maintenance and mowing and anything else that was needed. One of Diana’s horses was named after Oscar and with a show name of Namesake. Many years later Cathy and Daniel Geitner (both SAU alum) named a race horse after Irene, her show name was Oscar’s Wife!

Oscar remained connected with St. Andrews as the equestrian program grew, Shelby moved to Sweet Briar College and Peggy McElveen took the helm. He continued to work on the maintenance crew and also worked for various staff members mowing and cleaning up the yards at their homes. He was a one of a kind individual who was friends with everyone he met. Staff and students who knew him (and over the years there were many) recall his infectious laughter and sunny outlook on life. Oscar you will be missed at St. Andrews but never forgotten.