Obituary of Edward D. Allyn

Edward Doty Allyn

Sodus Point:

Edward Doty Allyn was born on December 8th , 1947, in Buffalo, NY. He died on April 18, 2024, at his home. He had a sudden heart attack.

Edward Doty Allyn was born on a light snowy winter morning to a young mother who made the choice to give him up for adoption, since she knew she could not take care of him, the way he deserved, and his biological father was not a good man. Edward was born Keith Allyn Recklinghausen. He was adopted by David Moser Allyn and Marian Goodwin Allyn, who renamed him after their ancestor, Edward Doty who was on the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower to North America. Edward had two siblings while growing up, Tim and Prudence. They spent most of their childhood summers on their sailboat, the Anoatok, which Ed kept and used for many years. His children also had summers on the same sailboat. Ed lived to be on the water.

Edward entered the US Navy in 1968. He served as a Photographer’s Mate Third Class on the USS Newport News during Vietnam until 1972, when he went into the Reserves until 1974. Unfortunately, he entered the service expecting to only take photographs, yet these images were permanently etched into the nightmares that plagued him for the rest of his life, as many service members suffer with. He was also commanded to do things that photographers should never be asked do, which never left him, either. He earned the following medals and award during his time in the Navy: the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the First Good Conduit Award.

In 1970, he married his high school sweetheart, Judith DeSerio DiPoala, and had his first son, Nathan. He owned a hardware store on Monroe Ave in Rochester, NY for many years. When asking my older brother about the hardware store, he said, “He was the type of person that would make sure his customers were taken care of. He spent many evenings doing ‘handyman’ work for his customers, and he did that out of the kindness of his heart.”. Judy experienced the burden of watching the war change Ed and they ultimately split ways, he was not the same man that she knew and loved.

In 1983, he married Wendy Weiss, and they had his second son, Zachary. Ed and Zach shared a love of music. Zach attributes his love of Pete Townshend sharing records from his performance at the Secret Policeman’s Ball.

Edward married Micki Aiken Allyn, on February 24, 2001. From that day until forever, Edward Doty Allyn was my (RR) dad. Our relationship was less than perfect. We fought all the time, it was great. I was Ed’s own personal version of hell in the form of a teenage girl, repaying him for a lifetime of wrongdoings to my brothers.

The relationships Ed had with his loved ones were complex, to say the least. He would give you the shirt off his back, he has helped countless vagabonds he came across (many of which just took advantage of him), but he was the most stubborn man when it came to accepting help. Painfully stubborn.

A few years ago, Ed decided to do a 23andMe test. He found out that he not only had 2 sisters he never knew about (Ginger and Cynthia), but he also had a daughter that he never knew existed (Gabrielle). The reconnection was beautiful, although too short lived.

He is survived by his wife, Micki Aiken Allyn; his sons, Nathan (Marie) Allyn, and Zach (Sara) Allyn; a newly acquired daughter, Gabrielle Allyn Skoglund; a stepdaughter, Rachel Reed; stepsons, Arliss (Beth) Reed and Shane (Allison) Aiken; his brother, Tim (Deborah) Allyn; his sisters, Prudence Nobles, Ginger (Lenny) Flynn, and Cynthia (Tim) VanMarter; grandchildren, Maximino Azarcon III, Ian Buker, Alexandra Azarcon, Anjaleigh (Cody) Symonds, Grace Mauerman, Lillian Mauerman, Micaela Swinton, Madilynn Aiken, Elzy Aiken, Eli Allyn, Callie Aiken, Lyra Allyn; great grandchildren, Ava Buettner, Avery Buettner, and Ondrayah Beecher; Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews, and some of the most loyal friends anyone could ask for.

Edward was predeceased by his parents, David and Marian Allyn; his biological mother, Marjorie Houk; his grandson Brendan Buker; and we cannot forget his sweet Boston Terriers, Buster, Eeyore, Dottie, Lily, Jake, Muggsy, Stella, and Polly.

A graveside, military service will be held Saturday, July, 20, at Mt. Hope Cemetery (lot 227-348) at 12pm, followed by a Celebration of Life at Captain Jack’s Goodtime Tavern in Sodus Point from 2pm-4pm. The immediate family will be together, on a sailboat offered by one of Dad’s closest friends, to take him for one last voyage. Dad was far from perfect, and that is still okay. Our family has also been affected by Dad’s PTSD. This was at a time before there was a deeper, better understanding of PTSD, and the family would like to take a moment to say, not only to our Military Veterans, but also to those struggling with life, the following: We understand that sometimes, it is more than a struggle to even get through the day, regardless of the differences in our types of struggles. Please, please know that you are not alone. Please put your pride, your ego, your past, your upbringing aside and seek help to work through your trauma to do better and be better, not just for you, but also for the people in your life who truly love you.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Lollypop Farm at lollypop.org/ways-to-give/ or to your local VA