CHICAGO — A 73-year-old man shot dead in Austin last week was an activist who had dedicated his golden years to helping people.
Ron Allen was driving home Friday when someone shot at his car in the 1300 block of North Laramie Avenue, officials said. He was hit, crashed his car and pronounced dead at the scene, though at the time police said they didn't know if he was the intended target.
Though Allen lived in west suburban Naperville, he grew up in Austin, said his wife, Carol Allen. A retiree, Allen became "very bored" after he stopped working, Carol said, laughing.
Allen had been involved in activism before, but after his retirement he found it could be a "good outlet for his energy" and became even more active, Carol said.
"He wanted to make things better between individuals, between people," Carol said. "He was trying to make people understand that we need to treat each other the way we would like to be treated."
Allen joined a community group that helps police departments in DuPage County improve their relationships with their communities, Carol said.
Allen's organization, the Unity Partnership, helped organize outings with police at the Islamic Center of Naperville and Illinois Sikh Community Center in Wheaton, said Ron Wilke, a deputy police chief in Lisle. That department's chief, Dave Anderson, developed a bond with the Unity Partnership's members, including Ron Allen, Wilke said.
"What they were really doing is trying to foster good relationships with the police and law enforcement and trying to see how we could work together to impact the community in a positive way," Wilke said.
As recently as Wednesday, Allen was at a meeting with high school resource officers, seeing how the Unity Partnership could help area schools, Wilke said.
Allen was also on the board of directors for the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce and was elected a precinct committeeman for the Democratic Party in Naperville.
"He's always been a people person. He tries to build good relationships between people," Carol said. "I thought it was great. It was a positive activity, and it gave him something to do. At least he was not out on the golf course all day. He was trying to make things better for other people."
Allen had another passion: As a teenager in Austin, he learned how to play cards with friends as a way of keeping himself "off the streets," Carol said. They'd go to a neighbor's house after school to learn the game.
Allen was so dedicated to a game called "bid whist" that he wrote a book on it: "The Evolution of Bid Whist." The book explained the game's history, and he conducted book-signings and readings around the city and suburbs.
Even after the couple moved out of the city, Allen would drive into Austin several times a week for card games with his oldest friends, Carol said. He was returning home from a game when he was killed.
"He was so good. If you were going to play bid whist with Ron then you had to bring your A game," said Carol, who said she couldn't compete with her husband because he was too skilled.
"A couple times a week he'd go over to play cards with them [in Austin]. He was quite comfortable with going to that area because he had lived there for so many years," his wife said.
Police said no one was in custody in Allen's death as of Tuesday.
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