He was never shy about his love for Lake Wylie
Jack Allen’s love for Lake Wylie was second only to his devotion to family, church and friends.
So say family and friends following Allen’s death March 16 after battling cancer. He was 88.
“He was not one to sit in a rocking chair resting,” said daughter Kathleen Jourdain, noting that her dad worked through the busy recent postal holiday season before attending to his own health needs.
“He loved people. He loved his community. He loved his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids. He loved Lake Wylie.”
Allen readily gave his time, expertise and enthusiasm to what came to be known as “Lake Wylie, SC,” although there is no such legal entity, said Allen’s long-time friend, developer Mark Erwin. After both retired from long careers with UPS, Erwin discovered Lake Wylie as an area ready for improvement. Allen also saw potential here and opened a gift store in Erwin’s new retail development, Lake Wylie Plaza. With his first wife, Evelyn, Jack opened Jac-Lyn’s Hallmark, for many years the area’s only gift store.
“Back then it was all country,” Erwin said.
“Jack became deeply involved in the community,” he noted, serving on the first board of the Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce and later winning chamber awards. Erwin, Allen and others began calling the area “Lake Wylie SC” and established the use of “Lake Wylie 29710” as separate from the town of Clover despite the identical ZIP code.
Later Allen applied for and won a contract to operate a postal station at Lake Wylie within the shop. The postal station established itself with a busy clientele, but Allen eventually closed the store and moved the postal station to Shoppes at the Landing.
When he learned recently how ill he was, Allen’s family said his primary concern was to make sure Jeanne, his wife of 31 years, would be OK. Jeanne recently suffered a fall that aggravated her own illnesses and could not be present for his services, although she grieves Jack’s passing.
With his first wife, Evelyn, Allen raised daughters Barbara and Kathleen and son Thomas. In the latter half of his life Allen helped to bring up Jeanne’s sons, Brett and Mark Smith. Allen is also survived by his sister, Carol, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Stepson Mark Smith, who was 16 when his mom married Jack, said Allen’s entry into his life was always welcome.
“What a great man! In every way, he was great,” Smith said.
“We never fought. He never ordered us around. If I had to replace my (own) dad with anybody, it would be Jack. And he loved my mother, Jeanne, so much. Jack’s last thoughts were of her.”
Mark and his older brother, Brett, are both caring for their mom as they mourn their stepfather.
“It has been the high honor of my life to have had Jack as a stepfather and friend,” Brett said.
The family plans to hold a celebration of Jack’s life in the near future where friends and family can reminisce, Brett said.
Jack asked to be buried in his signature business attire – a polo shirt and khakis, he added.
Allen did his best to make Lake Wylie a good place to live and raise a family. He was a devoted member of All Saints Catholic Church in Lake Wylie, working for years toward its planning and construction. He won the chamber’s Businessperson of the Year Award and numerous community accolades.
Mark Erwin said his old friend “had a special magic. He was the community spirit of Lake Wylie. If he took on a project, he took it on with both hands.”
Lake Wylie Chamber President Susan Bromfield agrees that Allen was a force in the community.
“In 1991 I went to work for the chamber and he was on its board. He and I became friends and we were always there for each other along the journey,” she said. “I am still taking it all in and the many memories. Lake Wylie will really miss Jack.”
The family has asked that remembrances be made to the Wayne T. Patrick Hospice House in Rock Hill, or to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 6:42 PM with the headline "He was never shy about his love for Lake Wylie."