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In Memoriam: Allen Hazard (1953-2024)
November/December 2024
 Allen Hazard at SOHO's 2016 People In Preservation awards. Photo by Sandé Lollis |
Allen Hazard, an energetic leader of San Diego’s preservation community, a passionate advocate for historic places, and a knowledgeable devotee of the Arts and Crafts movement, passed away unexpectedly at his home in San Diego on October 6, 2024. He was 71.
A native San Diegan with a background in track and field, he still took 90-minute runs and surfed regularly, and made rock tunes the soundtrack of his life. Allen was a tireless supporter of SOHO’s mission for nearly a quarter century. His passing leaves a huge void in our close-knit community.
Over the years, Allen served as a SOHO board member and was actively serving a current term. He also enriched numerous SOHO committees, chaired several of our home tours, and wrote tour guides and articles, such as “Eleven Things You Might Not Know About Irving J. Gill”. Allen co-authored the 2015 book Mission Hills in Arcadia’s Images in America series with his wife and preservation partner, Janet O’Dea, also an active SOHO member and advocate.
"Allen was a close friend and a passionate preservationist. I will always be grateful for his friendship and for his ambassadorship of SOHO. Our community has lost a true advocate, and we will miss him profoundly,” said Bruce Coons, SOHO’s executive director.
Allen's ingenuity and dedication led to the creation of the Mission Hills Historic District, the first of its kind in the U.S. He was a co-founder of the nonprofit group Mission Hills Heritage and played a key role in its formation and early activities as a director and officer; he remained a legacy member. His and Janet’s vigilance, diligence, and organizing abilities helped save some of that community’s most beloved historic places.
His enthusiasm for preservation was matched by his ever-present humor and energy. Allen was a voracious reader with a great appetite for learning and teaching. When COVID hit, he began a weekly habit of attending online seminars about the Arts and Crafts movement and its artists and architects. Invariably, he shared what he had learned with his large social media audience.
Whether in the classroom, where he would weave the subject of preservation into a physical education curriculum; leading a tour; giving a lecture; or sharing stories online, Allen’s love for preservation of San Diego’s historic places and for SOHO especially was evident in all he did, and he did it with warmth and humor.
"Allen was a true friend who was always there for SOHO and for me personally with steadfast and staunch support. He was generous not only with his time but also with his enthusiasm, always ready to help and volunteer for programs and projects. Professionally and personally, we will miss him more than words can express; he was a constant in our lives, and while his loss has left a void, his presence will continue to be felt," said Alana Coons, SOHO’s education and communications director.
Hundreds of friends and past and present colleagues immediately wrote online tributes to Allen, whose active presence on his Historic Mission Hills Facebook group became the perfect vehicle for an outpouring of tributes and memories. Allen took his social media seriously. He was prolific and engaged in promoting, educating, and advocating for Mission Hills history and always for SOHO’s preservation efforts. The recent tributes to him came from many community members and neighbors, some of whom he had not personally met, but whose lives they said he had touched by researching their homes as a volunteer or answering history questions. Joining them were stewards of the Arts and Crafts movement, locally and nationally. Leaders of the Gamble House Museum in Pasadena and the National Arts & Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, where Allen had given presentations, also paid their respects with personal tributes.
Allen was honored for historic preservation work by SOHO (he was a three-time People In Preservation award winner), the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board (three awards), and the Congress of History of San Diego and Imperial Counties. Just this month, the San Diego Press Club announced that, as part of SOHO’s education outreach, he won an award for SOHO’s Mission Hills Modernism self-guided tour.
Allen’s legacy will endure through the countless lives he touched, the historic places he helped save, and the stories he so beautifully preserved. We invite you to read more about his own remarkable story online and to add your memories of Allen.
A celebration of Allen’s life will be held at the Marston House Museum & Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Allen's memory can be made to:
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