As we remember and celebrate the life of Bob Allen ’57, listen to this October 2015 interview of Bob and Betty as they recall their first year of marriage in Mud Hollow, the leftover Quonset hut-style structures built during World War II that served as married student and faculty housing in the 1950s.
The Allens’ first son, Jay ’79, was born in Mud Hollow, and the residential community forged there left a lasting impression on the Allens.
During the podcast, Betty H’57 and Bob ’57 take turns reflecting on DePauw (Betty’s alma mater), Wabash (Bob’s), their first year as a married couple in Mud Hollow, their life together as Bob rose through the ranks at AT&T, and their children.
At one point Wabash On My Mind host Rich Paige asks the couple for the secret to a long, loving marriage, but you can hear it most clearly in the tone of their voices, the way they talk to each other.
Bob was especially moved this day, as Betty was being named an honorary alumna of Wabash.
Toward the end of the conversation, Betty recalls an essay she’d been assigned when she was a girl; she had been asked to write down her life goals.
“I’ve saved it, and I re-read it just recently,” she says. “I wrote, ‘I want to be a well-educated mother and wife.’”
“She’s been a perfect mother,” Bob says, describing with gratitude the loving home she had created for him and for their children.
At Homecoming Chapel as Betty stepped off stage after being named an honorary alumna, Bob stepped forward to help her down, then they gently kissed.
