Allen V. Robnett ’56

Allen died June 2, 2021, in Albuquerque, N.M., where he had lived for the past five years. He retired from a nearly 40-year career of teaching high school physics, aviation, astronomy, and math in Gallatin, Tenn. There he received the Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award and the Air Force Association National Aerospace Teacher of the Year Award, both in 2010.

Allen started his career as an electrical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, and was an early software developer and a farmer. His passions included flying his Cessna planes, soaring, and paragliding. He was a trombone player, a ballroom and folk dancer, and loved to sing with barbershop choruses and quartets.

Allen loved wordplay and was a punster to the very end. His leadership abilities found him as president of a mixed chorus, a vegan food group, and the Humanist Society of New Mexico two years before his death. He was curious, kind, and compassionate. 

Allen is survived by four children, three stepchildren and their spouses, nine grandchildren, and his partner of the last five years, Charlene Baker.