Judge John Allen, who grew up in a Columbus public housing complex, became a decorated U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and served on the Muscogee County Superior Court bench for 26 years, has died.
The Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office announced his death in a news release.
“On behalf of the Allen family, we were requested to announce with a heavy heart that Senior Superior Court Judge John Allen has transitioned from labor to reward,” Sheriff Greg Countryman and Superior Court Judge Ben Richardson said in the release. “The Hon. Judge John Allen made a huge impact in the lives of so many in our city, state and nation. We ask for your continued prayers during the family’s time of bereavement.”
Allen’s cause of death, his obituary and funeral arrangements weren’t available before publication.
After retiring from the court as its chief judge in 2013, Allen was inducted into the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame in 2020.
Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters, the mayor of Columbus from 1995-2002, wrote on his Facebook page that Allen was 82 when he died Sunday at his home.
Allen and Peters formed the first integrated law firm in Columbus during the 1970s. Peters described Allen as a “highly respected civic leader.”
“John was a gift from God to our community,” Peters wrote. “A dear friend that left an indelible mark on our judicial circuit & me personally.”
According to his GMVHOF bio, Allen was a distinguished military graduate from Tuskegee University (1966). He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force and accepted into flight school.
After earning his wings, he served two tours in Southeast Asia. He flew an F-4D Phantom, an interceptor and ground attack aircraft.
He completed 284 combat missions over hostile enemy zones. He destroyed “some of the most highly defended vital enemy support holdings, thus seriously deterring further threats to the region,” his GMVHOF induction citation says.
Allen was awarded six Distinguished Flying Crosses and 23 Air Medals. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a captain in 1973 to attend law school at the University of Florida.
After earning his law degree, Allen returned to Columbus in 1976 to begin his law practice. He was a judge in Recorder’s Court, State Court and Superior Court.
“He should be lauded for his early contributions to the civil rights movement as well as subsequent service in Columbus community organizations, membership and chair of several judiciary committees and as a recipient of several judicial awards by the State Bar of Georgia and others,” the GMVHOF said in the news release announcing his induction.
Allen also served as the city attorney for Geneva, Georgia, according to his bio on the Black history website TheHistoryMakers.org.
The Institute for Continuing Judicial Education of Georgia selected Allen as a mentor for newly appointed or elected judges. The Georgia Supreme Court selected him to work on the Court Futures Vanguard, drafting proposals to improved the state’s courts for the future.
Allen’s community service included membership on the Columbus Airport Commission, the Columbus High School Vocational Education Advisory Board, the Urban League Board of Directors, the Area Ten Special Olympics Advisory Board and the African American Historic Preservation Society.
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