Oliver Lee Allen

A Legend and the Original American Picker

Oliver passed away peacefully at 6:27 p.m. on August 28, 2026, at Cleveland Clinic Cardiology Center, at the age of 91 years and eight months, with his wife, Gloria, and his daughter, Rhonda, by his side. Long before "picking" had a name, and long before television made it popular, Oliver Lee Allen, Sr. was already the "original picker," walking through barns and back roads, finding forgotten treasures and knowing, at a glance, the story an object held. He understood something most people missed: an object doesn't lose its value just because it's been around for a while. It was a lesson he lived out in everything he touched, including the people he loved. Born on December 10, 1934, in a log cabin, he was raised on a family farm in Summers County, West Virginia, and baptized in the New River in 1951, the same day as his wife, humble beginnings that shaped him into a resourceful, independent, self-sufficient man. He was a natural thinker and problem solver, the kind of person who could study almost anything, understand how it worked, and find a way to fix it or make it better. One of his proudest memories was being personally asked by President Harry S. Truman to help recruit young men from Hinton to serve their country. It was on a bicycle, delivering newspapers to the top of the mountain, that Oliver's life story really began. The store he delivered newspapers to at the top of the mountain belonged to Gloria's parents, and he was always welcomed with ice cream and, eventually, with Gloria's heart. The two eloped and married in Virginia, beginning a life together that would span nearly seven decades. She was his sweetheart, his companion, and his partner in everything that came after, including more than 60 years working side by side as antique dealers. In Colorado, he owned Oliver's Classic Cars, pairing the skill of a master mechanic with a natural talent for buying and selling. He especially loved antique cars, their engineering, craftsmanship, and the history built into every part. A Terex retiree, he brought that same mechanical eye into his years working there. His love of engines carried into Allen's Super Stock Motor Enterprises and NASCAR, a passion he shared with his sons working alongside them as part of their motorsports teams, racking up many championships. He was an outdoorsman, a hunter, a ginsenger, a man who read the lay of the land the way he read an engine. The farm he grew up on never left him, especially showed up in the fabulous tomatoes he grew every year. He was also a pillar of the community. Oliver helped found Streetsboro City Park and its baseball fields, giving children and families a place to gather, play, and grow. As a championship baseball coach, he gave the young people around him his leadership, knowledge, humor, and encouragement, and that gift lives on in the town he helped build and the lives he shaped. Above all, Oliver had a wonderful sense of humor and personality nobody forgot. He loved his family and grandchildren, playing with them, teasing them, singing funny vintage songs like Keembo Kymbo in his deep bass voice, making them laugh. He was steady and dependable, a man everyone could count on and a hero to those who knew him. For more than 18 years, Oliver faced a rare form of leukemia the same way he faced everything else in life, with resilience, determination, and no interest in giving up. Oliver is survived by his wife, Gloria; his children, Oliver Lee Allen II (Cynthia), Rhonda Allen-Collins, and Jeffrey Mark Allen (Colleen); his grandchildren, Jeremiah W. Allen, Caytie Allen (Scott), Olivia Ann Phillips (Mac), Joshua Lee Allen (Alysha), and Serena Laurel Collins; his daughter-in-law, Mellissa Watts, and granddaughter-in-law, Allie Allen; his great-grandchildren, Kenadie Allen-Kraut, Jack Oliver Allen, Oliver Benton Haffner, and Rhett Storm Haffner; and his surviving brothers and sisters, Mary Harvey, Shirley Mills, Harry Allen (Joyce), and David Allen. He also leaves many beloved nieces and nephews, extended family, along with hundreds of treasured friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Oliver Benton Allen and Arretta Virginia Buckland, and his brother, Elmo Allen. Oliver will be remembered as a precious husband, dad, grandfather, great-grandfather, Pawpaw, brother, friend, and also known to many as "Wildman." His legacy lives on in the family he loved, the people he helped, the knowledge he shared, the town he strengthened, and the countless lives he touched along the way. Like the treasures he spent a lifetime discovering, Oliver's story carries a value that time can never diminish. A wisp of wind may have changed the course of his final days, but it could never uproot the life and legacy of this remarkable man. He was deeply loved and, quite simply, a legend. 

Services

Calling hours will be held Wednesday, September 9, 2026, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. The funeral service will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Shorts Spicer Crislip Funeral Home, 9781 Page Road, Streetsboro, Ohio 44241. Following the service, family and friends are invited to gather at the Eagles Club for dinner, fellowship, and a celebration of Oliver's remarkable life. The family gratefully acknowledges the Eagles Club for graciously opening their gathering space and the VFW for generously providing the dinner in Oliver's honor. A procession will form at 12:00 noon on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at Shorts Spicer Crislip Funeral Home, with committal services to follow at 1:00 p.m. under the tent at Evergreen Cemetery in Streetsboro. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Oliver's name, in support of leukemia research, online at my.clevelandclinic.org/giving.