Allen Donald Pritchard

Allen Donald Pritchard, of Galloway Ohio, passed away peacefully at home at the age of 63 on August 25, 2023 after a long and grueling battle with brain cancer. He was preceded in death by his mother Lillian (Duhaime) McConnell and father James Pritchard, and his nephew, Geoffrey Thomas Pritchard. He is survived by loving wife Lori (Timmins); his children Astin Leigh, Collin Quinn, and their mother Kathaline; his 3 brothers Lawrence (Janet), Kenneth (Debra) and Scott (Lynn) and beloved nieces and nephews.

Allen was born on June 14, 1960, in Baltimore Maryland but his family soon moved to Rhode Island and is where he considered “home”. Allen was an athlete to his core – playing football and baseball throughout high school; but his passion was baseball. He attended Elon University on a baseball scholarship and received numerous awards and recognition for his pitching prowess. While his focus was baseball, Allen graduated in 1983 with a degree in mathematics. He was inducted into Elon’s Hall of Fame in 1996. Allen was fiercely competitive – a trait that help him in his battle with cancer. Allen would say “If you’re keeping score, there’s a winner and a loser”, and Allen was always determined to be a winner.

After his baseball career ended, Allen put his love of math and data to use and accepted a position at Nationwide Insurance, which brought him to central Ohio – his home since 1984. He retired from Nationwide in 2018 – 6 years after his initial diagnosis of brain cancer – to battle the disease full-time for another 5 years. He suffered greatly over the 12 years but he never gave up his fight or his hope to one day resume playing golf and weightlifting.

While he was in extreme pain, he would force himself to go to work so he could interact with his teammates. Cancer would slow him down, but he carried on being here as long as he could for his children and his family. He was brave and strong until the end.

A celebration of Allen’s life will be held at Shaw-Davis Clintonville Chapel on Friday, September 8 from 4-6 p.m. In Lieu of flowers, donations in Allen’s memory should be made to Autism Speaks at www.autismspeaks.org.