| Sources |
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 18 Apr 2002.
Lincoln Gale Allen
December 29, 1951 - April 18, 2002
Birthplace: Sevierville,Tennessee
Resided In: Sevierville Tennessee USA
Visitation: April 20, 2002
Service: April 21, 2002
Cemetery: Allen Cemetery
Lincoln “Gale” Allen, age 50 of Sevierville, died Thursday, April 18, 2002 at Sevier Medical Center. He was employed by the Sevier County Ambulance Service for 27 years, serving as director the past 16 years. He was a member of Jones Chapel Baptist Church.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents Sidon Paul and Leona Allen and Richard and Oda Jane Barker.
Survivors:
Wife:
Debbie Allen
Daughter:
Whitney Allen
Son:
William Allen
Parents:
Lillard and Helen Allen
Brother and Sister-in-law:
Larry and Betty Allen
Sisters and Brothers-in-law:
Brenda and Terry Hembree
Barbara and Daryl Roberts
Nieces and Nephews:
Chad Allen
Amanda Allen
Amanda Stanfill
Christina Stanfill
Heather Hembree Smith
Krystal Hembree
Kenzie Roberts
Beth Roberts
Mollie Roberts
Father-in-law and Mother-in-law:
Boyd and Frances Wells
Many special friends
Funeral service 2 PM Sunday in the West Chapel of Atchley Funeral Home with Rev. Dan King, Rev. Melvin Carr and Rev. Curtis Wells officiating. Interment 11 AM Monday in Allen Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Daryl Roberts, Terry Hembree, Larry West, Bobby Whaley, John Fox and Jack Cochran. Honorary pallbearers will be employees of the Sevier County Ambulance Service.
The family will receive friends 6-9 PM Saturday at Atchley Funeral Home, Sevierville.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 24 Apr 2002.
Allen held in high esteem
By: PENNY BANDY, Staff Writer April 24, 2002
Scores of emergency services vehicles followed a mile-long procession Monday for Sevier County Ambulance Service Director Lincoln "Gale" Allen.
Flags at all county offices were flown at half staff Monday for Allen, who died at age 50 of a heart attack Thursday night following a full day at work.
Allen spent 27 years at the ambulance service. He was the director for 16 of those years.
The paramedics who worked under him made every effort to save his life.
"Everything that could be done medically was done," said Paramedic Tony Watson, the first to arrive at Allen's home. "I had to give him a chance."
Watson, who has worked at the ambulance service since 1987, said Allen was like a second father to him.
"Gale was a good man," he said. "He was a good man to all of us."
He described trying to save his boss's life as "overwhelming.
"It was terrible, but if I didn't do my job, who was going to do my job?" Watson said.
Watson said the ordeal of Allen's death has been hard on all the employees, especially the crews who responded to the call that night.
David Hamilton, a shift supervisor, said a chaplain from the Knoxville Fire Department directed a critical stress debriefing session to help employees cope.
"It was a big help," said Hamilton, a 19-year veteran of the ambulance service.
The people who work in the emergency services field treat each other like family, Hamilton explained.
"He was more like a friend to us than a boss," he said.
On the scene, Hamilton said employees had to let their training take over.
They were talking to Allen, who wasn't conscious.
"It was just a hard call," Hamilton said.
Some tears were shed and prayers whispered on the way to the hospital.
Local emergency services agencies showed their support by either riding in the procession line Monday or assisting local agencies by going on calls while people attended the funeral.
Personnel from Knox, Morgan, Anderson, Jefferson, Hamblen, Blount and Grainger counties came.
Jefferson County Emergency Medical Services Director Tim Wilder helped plan the funeral.
Flags were also flown at half staff at Allen Cemetery on Flat Creek Road, where Allen was buried, Hamilton said.
Sevier County Emergency Management Agency Director John Fox said he lost one of his best friends in Gale Allen.
He had known Allen since 1988.
"He was well thought of in the EMS community," Fox said, adding that Allen served as president of the Tennessee Ambulance Service Association. "He really lived for the ambulance service. He gave his life to it."
Fox pointed out that Allen had been battling health problems.
He underwent an experimental heart surgery last July. He had three wires placed around the ventricles of his heart to make them pump in sequence. He had some bleeding in the brain in the fall and also had kidney trouble.
"It sounds like a fairy tale, but I've been through it," Allen said in an October interview.
Allen also said then he couldn't have made it through the hard times without his wife, Debbie. They have two children together, Whitney and William.
"I knew he was sick a lot," Fox said of Allen. "If he had a fault, it was that he was a giving person and people took advantage of it."
The ambulance service will have a hard time replacing him, Fox said.
County Executive Larry Waters agreed.
"It's certainly going to be a difficult situation because Gale was so dedicated and it's going to be hard to find someone to work as hard at it," said Waters, who will appoint an interim director later this week.
Waters, who attended grade school with Allen, said he made the ambulance service number one in the state.
"Gale was just a good person who treated everybody with respect and cared about everybody and worked very hard to make sure that the ambulance service was providing the best service possible," Waters said.
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