Pop Allen taught me to read and enjoy English Literature. Reread Moby Dick, David Copperfield and others every five years or so. And am so fond of Shakespeare that my brother-in-law bought me the complete works last Christmas.That is a gift over fifty years long.
Shaun Shannon

Bob was 100 per cent commited to St. Edwards all is life. I don't know of anybody who gave so much of his life to the College. He supported all the school activities, whether it was rugby, music or drama. He worked relentlessly to have our students accepted at Universities.
Bob had a searching mind and a great appreciation for all the arts. He was also full of the 'joie de vivre'. He loved good food and good wines, discovering new places and meeting new faces.
In Bob I had a true friend who never let me down. On the contrary, he was always there to help and encourage me. Even when I was busy in Southern Namibia trying to produce the first English/Nama dictionary, he translated an old German/ Nama dictionary written by one of the early missionaries and this helped me enormously.
Ignatius (Br. Chincotta)

With sadness I heard of the death of Bob Allen. Bob was "The Face" of St Edwards for so long,He will be sadly missed. He was a great teacher,a good friend and a brilliant mind. May He Rest In Peace
Terry Moorhead

"Pop" Allen was my Form Master in Form 3A - '57-'58. Our personal relationship can be best described as "daggers drawn" for all of that academic year but - hand on heart - with 50+ years of hindsight, I can honestly say that he gave me a perspective on Central European affairs that proved to be absolutely invaluable to me in my later life, Certainly now, as I meditate those issues from a greatly relaxed viewpoint, I have an appreciation of his input into my psyche that only his determination then and my own considered reflection after many years can bring. As the funeral service is being conducted, we will be driving east across Germany but we will remember him in our prayers.
Brian Kelly and family

They say that everyone remembers a particular teacher who inspired them, and we who were at St Edwards in the 1950s seem to have had more than our fair share of such beacons. Pop Allen was certainly up there amongst the best of them and although my own career was as a scientist, I never forgot the education in the classics I had enjoyed through teachers such as Pop.
Let me tell just one anecdote. We 'did' the Merchant of Venice in 3A in 1951-52 and one particular class was spent on the Shylock speech. One pupil was reading it out as only an eleven-year old can - "Has...not...Jew...eyes. Has...not...a...Jew...ears..." when Pop suddenly flew into a rage. You can imagine it, eyes bulging, veins standing out, lacerating words. We just sat petrified until he relaxed as suddenly as he had exploded. "There," he said. "that's the way to do it!" At which point we realised he had just performed the Shylock speech - to great effect of course. When I reminded him of the incident fifty years later he was as full of enthusiasm about the speech as he had been all those years ago.
Joe Chamberlain

Thanks for the info about "Pop". He was a great teacher and will be sadly missed.
Tony McDermott

I remember Pop with fondness and admiration. I last spoke to him about 2 years ago coming out of mass at St Pauls. A nicer man you could not meet.
Kevin Preston

Do you know he taught me history in the 4th year and then passed me on to Alf Barter in the 6th year. And both fired me enthusiastically as a student of history which I never lost. I studied History at University, and I became a history teacher, Head of History, Housemaster, then Headmaster. I owe a lot to those two teachers. God bless them both.
Patrick Brennan

Very sad - I have fond memories of his tales of travelling in Europe on his motor bike. Glad I saw him at the dinner.
Derick Chamberlain

Very sorry to hear about Bob Allen. He didn't teach me but was a colleague in the first half of the sixties, a nice man.
Jim Dillon

Really sorry to hear that, or rather read it. I always hoped to meet him again.
Dave Townson

Thanks for passing on the sad news Ed."Pop" taught me History at school and we used to spot him now and then after school when we would hang around Huyton Village.He used to live on a street called The Rooley.
Pete McArdle

I was saddened to hear about Pop (Could never bring myself to call him Bob) but let us celebrate an illustrious life - he was the most gifted of teachers, in the style of the great didactic Irish poets, and gave me my love of language, literature and Latin - this in turn led to my subsequent Russian Interpretership.
In 1950, he was my first Form Master - 2 Alpha - then my second Form Master the following year in 3A - and thus laid the foundation for everything I ever accomplished (albeit in a minor way compared to him). He wrote to me some time ago saying it had been a privilege to have been associated with our young enquiring minds but the privilege was all ours!! May he RIP!
John Brown