FORT BENTON - Wayne "Mickey" Allen, 106, died of natural causes Oct. 4 
at the Missouri River Medical Center in Fort Benton.

Services have been held.

Survivors include a son, Michael (Myrna) Allen of Fort Benton; 
grandchildren Victor (Lisa) Allen of Seattle, Wash., Jennifer (James) 
Ralph of Oceanside, Calif.; great-grandchildren Emily and Jacob Ralph 
of Oceanside; and several nieces and nephews. 

Mickey was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Sarah Elizabeth 
(Prodger) Allen; his parents, Victor and Anna Allen; and a sister, 
Edris. 

Mickey met Sarah Elizabeth "Beth" Prodger in Los Angeles, and they 
were married on Dec. 24, 1935. Although both of their families had 
homesteaded on the Hi-Line, they did not meet until they moved to Los 
Angeles.

Mickey was born in Huntsville, Wash., on Jan. 9, 1903. When he was 6, 
his family moved to a homestead near the Chinook/Loman area. The year 
was 1909. When Mickey was 16, the Allens had had enough of 
homesteading and moved back to Washington in 1919. While in 
Washington, Mickey learned to box, a sport he pursued for many years. 
By 1921, the Allens were again on the move, this time heading to 
California in an old Mitchell car.

Mickey and his father took various jobs from northern California on 
south, eventually ending up in Los Angeles. Mickey worked in 
construction, trucking, boxed professionally, managed a semi-pro 
baseball team and worked as a grip (prop man) at the FBO movie studio. 
Mickey wanted to work at the studio because they had a boxing team. 
The manager of the prop department was Irish, so Wayne changed his 
name to Mickey O'Day, and got the job. The name "Mickey" stuck, and 
more people knew him by Mickey or Mick than his real name.

Mickey had 22 professional fights, losing only two. In 1941, Mick, 
Beth and son Denny returned to Montana for good. In 1958, Mickey 
bought some property east of Geraldine and named it the "Long Rope 
Ranch." It was his pride and joy, and he farmed it into his 70s. 

Mickey was born in 1903, the same year the Wright brothers flew the 
first powered airplane, the first World Series baseball game was 
played and the Ford Motor Company was incorporated. Teddy Roosevelt 
was president.

Mickey had many interests. He liked all sports, especially baseball, 
coaching Little League into his 70s. He coached a boxing team in 
Geraldine, which was very successful. Another interest was politics. 
He was chairman of the Chouteau County Democratic committee in the 
'40s and '50s. After retiring from farming, he became an avid 
gardener, filling several city lots with corn and vegetables every 
year.

After moving into the Sun Rise Bluffs retirement home, Mickey spent 
many happy hours taming and feeding the geese that lived on the nearby 
Missouri River. He also loved to dance, and attended every dance put 
on at the Sun Rise Bluffs. The dancing continued well past his 100th 
birthday. Mickey was a fan of the space program and especially the 
seven original astronauts. Mickey and Beth had the opportunity to see 
one of the first Apollo capsules to circle the moon and return, and 
also drive the length of the newly completed space shuttle landing 
runway at the Kennedy Space Center.

Mickey was a longtime member of the Elks Lodge. He was a charter 
member of Lodge 1415 in Huntington Park, Calif., and became a member 
of Great Falls Lodge 214 after moving to Montana.

Published in Great Falls Tribune on October 10, 2009