His life would read like a novel. Allen Lee McMaster was the first child born to Kenneth Charles McMaster and Wilma Merrill (nee Ingraham) McMaster. He was born at the Soldiers and Sailors Hospital in Penn Yan, in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of western New York State. His family and ancestors were all Scottish and English. He was an adventurous youngster with a very inquisitive and technical mind. He attended Elm Street Elementary and Penn Yan Junior High School in Penn Yan. He set bowling pins at the bowling alley in Penn Yan as a boy and liked to bowl. He also was in the Scouting program for awhile. He moved with his parents to San Diego, California in 1955. After graduating from Point Loma High School there. he secured a job as a rigger at the North Island Naval Air Station and used to take the "nickel snatcher" boats across the harbor to work. He also joined a small volunteer team of young men headed by an old sea captain and they lived aboard the bark "Star of India" in San Diego Harbor and were the first to begin the historic ship's restoration when it was sitting with no masts at the foot or Fifth Avenue. He later lived aboard a Chinese junk in San Diego Harbor, and then moved to San Francisco, living in Chinatown and working on the famous sailing ship "Balclutha." He loved nautical knotwork and building ships in bottles as a hobby, and he learned all manner of work aboard sailing ships. He loved sailing sailboats himself in his free time. He also enjoyed archery and knife-throwing as a teenager. He served in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1965, receiving his basic training at Fort Ord and Camp Roberts, California, and after more training he served as a crew chief on air ambulance helicopters. He overcame many obstacles in his lifetime before achieving his full potential. He traveled around, finally ending up in Michigan, and he eventually went to work as an electrician with the General Motors Corporation part time, becoming a full time employee before long. He met Elsia E. "Penny" Amama (AH-ma-ma; Dutch) and they were united in matrimony on June 5, 1973 at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada. He continued to work for General Motors for thirty years,buying a large home in Sterling Heights, Michigan. He enjoyed many hobbies, including hunting (crossbow hunting in particular), scuba diving (even under ice), lapidary work with the Gem and Layadare Club, writing books, making cane fishing rods, and performing French-Canadian living history with the Voyagers Club. He and his wife both enjoyed traveling in their RV to National Parks around the nation and they both enjoyed the hobby of nature photography (he had his own dark room and they would enter a lot of their photographs in competitions). Allen passed away at home on the morning of September 19, 2013, after a valiant nine-year battle with cancer. He was survived by his wife of forty years Penny McMaster, a brother Gary J. McMaster, and several nieces and nephews. Services were held at Will and Schwarzkoff Funeral Home, 233 Northbound Gratiot Avenue, Mount Clemons, Michigan, and a burial with full military honors, including Taps and a 21-gun salute, took place at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan at 10 am on September 24, 2013. Memorial contributions were made to the American Red Cross.
His life would read like a novel. Allen Lee McMaster was the first child born to Kenneth Charles McMaster and Wilma Merrill (nee Ingraham) McMaster. He was born at the Soldiers and Sailors Hospital in Penn Yan, in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of western New York State. His family and ancestors were all Scottish and English. He was an adventurous youngster with a very inquisitive and technical mind. He attended Elm Street Elementary and Penn Yan Junior High School in Penn Yan. He set bowling pins at the bowling alley in Penn Yan as a boy and liked to bowl. He also was in the Scouting program for awhile. He moved with his parents to San Diego, California in 1955. After graduating from Point Loma High School there. he secured a job as a rigger at the North Island Naval Air Station and used to take the "nickel snatcher" boats across the harbor to work. He also joined a small volunteer team of young men headed by an old sea captain and they lived aboard the bark "Star of India" in San Diego Harbor and were the first to begin the historic ship's restoration when it was sitting with no masts at the foot or Fifth Avenue. He later lived aboard a Chinese junk in San Diego Harbor, and then moved to San Francisco, living in Chinatown and working on the famous sailing ship "Balclutha." He loved nautical knotwork and building ships in bottles as a hobby, and he learned all manner of work aboard sailing ships. He loved sailing sailboats himself in his free time. He also enjoyed archery and knife-throwing as a teenager. He served in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1965, receiving his basic training at Fort Ord and Camp Roberts, California, and after more training he served as a crew chief on air ambulance helicopters. He overcame many obstacles in his lifetime before achieving his full potential. He traveled around, finally ending up in Michigan, and he eventually went to work as an electrician with the General Motors Corporation part time, becoming a full time employee before long. He met Elsia E. "Penny" Amama (AH-ma-ma; Dutch) and they were united in matrimony on June 5, 1973 at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada. He continued to work for General Motors for thirty years,buying a large home in Sterling Heights, Michigan. He enjoyed many hobbies, including hunting (crossbow hunting in particular), scuba diving (even under ice), lapidary work with the Gem and Layadare Club, writing books, making cane fishing rods, and performing French-Canadian living history with the Voyagers Club. He and his wife both enjoyed traveling in their RV to National Parks around the nation and they both enjoyed the hobby of nature photography (he had his own dark room and they would enter a lot of their photographs in competitions). Allen passed away at home on the morning of September 19, 2013, after a valiant nine-year battle with cancer. He was survived by his wife of forty years Penny McMaster, a brother Gary J. McMaster, and several nieces and nephews. Services were held at Will and Schwarzkoff Funeral Home, 233 Northbound Gratiot Avenue, Mount Clemons, Michigan, and a burial with full military honors, including Taps and a 21-gun salute, took place at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan at 10 am on September 24, 2013. Memorial contributions were made to the American Red Cross.
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