Monday, June 20, 2022
Reg Allen's contributions to the community at large have been well documented in the published tribute. Reg, also, benefitted others in many private ways.
Reg would call out from his basement workshop, "Come in and see what I'm working on today." He's be restoring a piece of wooden furniture to its previous glory, sometimes items from St. Agnes' Church where Reg was a devoted and valuable member.
One Sunday morning, Reg appeared carrying hedge clippers. He said he felt a little guilty to be working on the sabbath, but Mr. Gunn was in his 90s and could no longer trim. Next week I telephoned to read to Mrs. Allen a Robert Ingersoll quotation: "To Help with Hands is Holier than to Pray with Lips." in an attempt to assuage Reg's Guilt.
Rocky Jones lived next door to the Allens. Rocky was accomplished in many areas, but home maintenance was not one of them. One summer Reg, deciding he could look at Rocky's peeling paint no more, set up scaffolding, scraped and painted the exterior of the Jones' house. Asked whether Rocky had at least paid for the paint, Reg replied, "Some of it."
At a Romans Ave. grief-tinged goodbye party for the moving Allens, neighbours told of several others Reg had assisted over the years in various ways. Mr. "Love Your Neighbour" would be there to solve problems no more. A coffee cup with Ingersolls' edited quotation was presented: Helping Hands Are Holier Than Praying Lips.
Caleb Fishman, one of Rex Allen's many admirers
