IN MEMORIAM

Thomas J. Allen 

November 21, 1940 - August 9, 2010

The Burrowing Owls of Cape Coral and all the wildlife in Southwest Florida lost a great friend.

Tom Allen, an untiring defender of wildlife passed away on  August 9th, 2010.

Tom was one remarkable guy. After serving in the United States Air Force he attended the University of Maine and where he earned bachelors and masters degrees in wildlife management. Tom worked for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources where he retired from and moved to Cape Coral.

Cape Coral was indeed lucky to have Tom as a resident.
Tom was an nationally recognized artist, sculptor and wood caver. An exhibit of his work was shown in the Cape Coral Library.

He was an author of two field guides on Butterflies one of his lifelong passions.
He was a regular contributer of a page on Butterflies for Birds and Blooms Magazine.

His expertise on radio tracking of wildlife led him to place radio transmitters on 50 of Cape Corals Burrowing Owls to learn more about their lives.

He was a resource person for the City of Cape Coral.
He taught at Edison College,
He was an accomplished photographer
He was a fossil hunter.
He was a wildlife rescuer.

As a member of Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife he was an officer, advocate, mentor, resource person, lecturer and was responsible for the creation and building of the butterfly house now located at Rotary Park.

As long as this list is, this is only a partial glimpse into the life of this amazing man.

As Michael Orchin, President of Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife so aptly stated at his memorial service, " If you see any wildlife in Cape Coral chances are that Tom has something to with their being there."

Tom will be sorely missed by his friends and family and especially all the wildlife that he loved so dearly.