Allen Reddy, of Ponte Vedra Beach, closed his eyes to this world and opened them to heaven on January 18, 2010.

He was born in Jacksonville April 6, 1915 and lived in the area all of his life, except for one year in Texas and 44 months on active military duty. He was passionate about his family, every aspect of Christ Episcopal Church, America and the arts, especially music. Allen had a beautiful bass voice and sang in church choirs, barbershop quartets and choruses. In the early 1930's he played trumpet in the Jacksonville Civic Orchestra, a forerunner of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He also played in local dance bands, served as chairman of the Christ Church Music Commission and as president of his barbershop chapter. For 44 months during World War II Allen was on active duty in the Pacific, seeing action in Okinawa. He served 27 years as a reserve officer, retiring in 1975.

After retiring from both the military and the Postal Inspection Service, Allen spent 17 years as a full time volunteer at Christ Episcopal Church in Ponte Vedra where he manned a desk in the church office and copy room. The Christ Church Service Cross was awarded to Allen in 1990. For 25 years Allen participated in a weekly Cursillo reunion group. He was well known by many for his annual performance as the grandfather in 'The Nutcracker'.

He set a record by attending every Gator Bowl game from 1946 through 2009, was an avid Jaguar fan, and served on the host committee at Super Bowl XXXIX.

Always active until his accident on October 14, 2009, Allen held memberships in TROA, ROA, Navy League, BRASS, FOCUS, The Churchmen (Secretary), Cummer Museum, and The Ponte Vedra Club.

He has a large and loving family and many friends who will dearly miss him. He was the devoted father of sons Marshall Reddy and Michael Reddy (now deceased).

He is further survived by Nancy Reddy, his loving wife of 30 years; step children Jennifer Roland (Joseph), Nancy Blake (David), Lisa Travis (Stephen), Jay Permenter (Stacey) of Jacksonville and David Permenter (Klara) of Baja, Hungary; daughter-in law Karol Reddy Mantz; nieces Lois Baker and Nancy Sykes; and ten grandchildren.

A celebration of his life will be held at Christ Church, Ponte Vedra Beach, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 23. Remembrances may be sent to Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Christ Episcopal Church or the charity of your choice.

Arrangements are by Hardage- Giddens Funeral Home, 1701 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville Beach, FL. Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com