Our darling Alvah passed away on December 8, leaving behind a world of heart broken family and friends.

Alvah grew up on the corner of River Oaks Road and White Oak Lane in San Marco. He and his sister, Jessica, were surrounded by a great group of friends who shared their families and their adventures. At night, they frequently slept where they landed, lumps of children under blankets, on someone's floor. Backpacking trips to the mountains in VW buses were something to look forward to.

Alvah attended Hendricks Avenue, Pine Forest and graduated from Wolfson, where he made lifelong friends. Mr. Fryer's gifted class was the source of many stories. Alvah's first girlfriend, Amy Slaughter, encouraged his interest in writing poetry and archived work that Alvah left lying around. Her family, including her brother Joey, were Alvah's second family. Dr. William Slaughter was an important mentor who always encouraged Alvah in his writing. During his first class at UNF, Alvah won first place in a school wide essay-writing contest.

Poetry was Alvah's passion. All he ever really wanted to be was a poet. And he was...a wonderfully gifted, beautifully sensitive poet. Poetry seemed to flow effortlessly from his brilliant mind, his generous soul. One of Alvah's proudest accomplishments was being a cofounder of the online magazine "Fresh Out" with his friends Eric Lohman and Philip Sturges. Through his role as co-editor, Alvah met and supported poets and artists from all over the world. Alvah's work was published in a number of poetry collections.

Alvah was married for several years to Lori Rebman Shad. They lived in Murray Hill, on Four Corners Park, where he met and adopted his dearly-loved dog Early, who was his friend to the end. Alvah began playing guitar and singing at local establishments and hosted open mike nights at what is now Birdies in Five Points. He played regularly for his friend, Justin Watkins, at Henrietta's in Springfield. While there he met Stetson Kennedy and became a part of honors that were bestowed on Kennedy for his work in exposing the KKK. Alvah was asked to put a Woody Guthrie poem to music and "Beluthahatchee Bill" was the result. He was invited to perform the song for Guthrie's family, including Arlo. One of Alvah's most important steps concerning his music was the founding of the duo Wildroot 360, with his good friend Ward Morford. They wrote, recorded and performed many songs together. Their EP, Ducking Francine, still brings joy to those lucky enough to get a listen.

One of Alvah's dearest friends was his former fiancée Sandra Brebenel. They spent many happy years together and she was incredibly supportive of his music and poetry. She remained in his heart until the end.

In addition to his parents and sister, Alvah was very close to his grandparents on both sides of the family. He spent many happy hours as a child, playing with his cousins, Greg and Mike Hawley. More recently, Alvah became close friends with his cousin Wayne Pylant. Wayne shared his love of music and they loved sitting on the porch, playing and singing. Alvah also loved curling up on the couch with his beloved dogs, Early, Tildie and Bisquick and his cat, Parker.

We will miss Alvah forever, but his spirit will live on in his poetry and songs and in the hearts of those who knew him. All our love.

Alvah was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Katherine and Carl Aslinger, and his paternal grandparents, Albertha and Alvah Allen, Sr.

His loving family includes parents Jamie and Lamar Allen, sister Jessica, aunts Kathy Montalto, Anita Shea (Tim) and Lynette Hawley (deceased), and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to a GoFundMe account, Alvah Allen Memorial for Charity.

A remembrance for Alvah will be held on Sunday, December 29. If you were a friend of Alvah's, please contact Jamie by text or call at 904 412-3069.