Yorke Allen Jr. ’36

Yorke Allen died on Apr. 6, 1989. He was born on Apr. 28, 1915, the son of Yorke Allen ’94 and Mary Findley Allen. A graduate of Kent School, Yorke majored in politics at Princeton and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was president of Cliosophic Hall and the International Club and director of the Student Faculty Assn. Yorke was also a member of the Glee Club and Colonial Club. From 1951 to 1956, he served as our class secretary.

In 1941, he entered the Army as a private.  He was discharged as a captain in 1945, having served in counterintelligence in the European theater. He then was an investment banker in N.Y.C. and later spent 29 years with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Yorke served as chairman of the town council in New Canaan, Conn., and was a respected representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, serving on the education,  finance, and appropriations committees. After four years in office, he resigned in 1983 due to poor health. Yorke spent almost two decades as treasurer of both the Interfaith Service Committee of New Canaan and of the Congregational Church. He also served on the board of the Land Conservation Trust. Last year, the New Canaan Gridiron Club named him its Man of the Year.

He is survived by his widow Elizabeth; sons Frederick, Yorke III, David, and Roger; daughters Frances A. Yerkes and Mary; a sister, Carolyn Y. Allen; and ten grandchildren. We will miss this outstanding individual. He made his mark in life.