Allen Wilson, 94, of Bradenton, Florida, passed away 1 August 2024. He was a missionary who served for 37 years across the Mesoamerica and South America regions in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, and as the district superintendent of Costa Rica.

Allen D. Wilson was born on 9 May 1930 in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Aldus D. Wilson and Mary (Phillips) Wilson. Siblings Robert Ernest and Vivian Arlene later joined the family.

Allen sensed a call to missionary service while in high school. Following his 1949 graduation from Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Allen hitchhiked to Bourbonnais, Illinois, to attend Olivet Nazarene University (then College). He graduated with a bachelor's in theology in 1954. He went on to pursue studies at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, graduating with Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Divinity degrees in 1970 and 1971, respectively.

On 18 July 1953, Allen married Elizabeth Ann Watkins of Springfield, Ohio, whom he met as a fellow student at Olivet Nazarene.

Following his college graduation, Allen served as lead pastor of three local Nazarene churches in the Indianapolis District: Willow Grove (1954-1955), Warrington (1955-1957), and Edinburg (1957-1958).

In the summer of 1958, Allen and Elizabeth were appointed to global missionary service. After a summer of linguistics studies at the Wycliffe Institute of Linguistics in Bethany, Oklahoma, and a brief time in Mexico City, they drove with their son, Bruce, to Guatemala to begin their service among the Kekchi-speaking Mayan population of the province of Alta Verapaz.

The Wilsons lived on the campus of the Nazarene Bible Institute in Coban and taught at and directed the Institute until the late 1960s. Son, Brian, and daughter, Peggy, were born to the Wilsons during the family's time of service in Guatemala. In 1970, they moved to El Salvador to fill in one year for missionaries who were on leave, and then, in 1972, the family moved to Costa Rica.

There, Allen and Elizabeth taught and directed the Nazarene Seminary of the Americas (SENDAS), served as the Costa Rica District's superintendent, and planted a church in the Tibas neighborhood of the San Jose metropolitan area.

Allen and Elizabeth later served in Colombia, South America (1984-1988), and their last assignment was in the Dominican Republic (1989-1995), where they established and directed the Nazarene Bible Seminary.

Their 37 years of missionary service in five different countries and three different learning institutions were primarily spent in ministerial training, establishing educational systems for ministers, and planting churches.

In the summer of 1995, the Wilsons formally retired and spent a year in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Allen and Elizabeth then moved to Bradenton/Sarasota, Florida. They were active members of the Sarasota First Church and Sarasota Trinity Church of the Nazarene and helped teach some ministerial training courses on the Southern Florida District.

Allen’s family says, "He was a good and loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather and an example to all families. He was an overcomer, a survivor of childhood polio. Always the helper, he was captain of school crossing guards, a member of volunteer junior firefighters in Indianapolis, and a member of the Boy Scouts (with two sons who proudly followed in his footsteps as accomplished Scouts). He loved serving Jesus and formed strong relationships with many, including colleagues and students."

Allen was preceded in death by his parents, Aldus and Mary, his sister, Vivian Arlene Tomlin, and granddaughter Erica. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; sons Bruce Wilson and Brian Wilson; daughter, Peggy Ann Strange; seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

The family is making plans for memorial services on Saturday, 14 September, in Bradenton, Florida, and Saturday, 28 September in Indianapolis, Indiana. More details will be released by the family in the coming days.