James A. "Jim" Allen

James A. (Jim) Allen passed away Dec. 24, 2025 after a courageous 5+ year battle with AML (acute myeloid leukemia). He is survived by is wife of 52 years Anita (Barrie) Bartolomei Allen; his son J. Bryan Allen and daughter in-law Kristina of Midland; his son Geoffrey Allen and daughter in-law Laurie Samuels of Alexandria, VA; and his two much-loved granddaughters, Giana Grace Allen and Francesca James Allen of Midland.

He retired from the Dow Chemical Company after 32 years of service. During those years, he was located at Dow Texas Freeport, Terneuzen (the Netherlands), and Dow Midland, MI. He held a range of management positions in R&D, Tech Service, and process support. He was proud of being a leader of Primacore Adhesive resins, co-developer with Mobile Chemical of the “Hefty” trash bag, Rubbermaid “Tuff series”, and other products emanating from the new product launch of Dow’s linear low-density polyethylene. He was responsible for all of Dow’s thermoplastic products, R & D, tech service and process support. His most entertaining “tour of duty” was in Terneuzen, Netherlands where he managed a 13-country area for plastics sales & support. This also provided a growth experience for his family.

The last part of his career saw him welcoming in the “internet age”, as director of knowledge management for Dow in the 1990s.

After his retirement, he reconnected with school classmates from as long as 60 years ago, devoting time to nature and wildlife causes and supporting the Ruby Habitat organization in Montana. He and his buddies made many wonderful memories while fly-fishing the Ruby River for the last 15 years.

Jim was also an avid philatelist and was fortunate to have done research for and at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. He exhibited philatelic postal covers and stamps and was the recipient of many awards for his research and his exhibits. His crowning achievement was winning the American Philatelic Society’s Champion of Champions award in 2018. His philatelic research was published nationally and internationally. He was a member of numerous US and international philatelic organizations, including the Classics Society, the American Philatelic Society, and the British North American Philatelic Society. He was a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society of London, as well as the co-founder of the Institute for Analytical Philately.

He loved to work in his yard and garden, was an avid walker and loved exercising of any kind, especially tennis. He also loved to travel nationally and internationally with his wife.

He wanted to leave one last thought as part of his epitaph: “Children are the future. Handle with care.” Jim’s family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the doctors and nurses at the Pardee Cancer Center and especially to the entire staff at the Infusion Center-they became family.

Per Jim’s wishes, cremation has taken place and a celebration of life will be held at a later date. Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider the Pardee Cancer Treatment Fund or Cancer Services of Midland.