Friends Eulogize Allen As A Man Who Never Quit

On a day when some of the most meaningful college football games were contested, former Boise State coach Pokey Allen was eulogized Wednesday as a man whose passions were people and football.

Ernest Duncan Allen Jr., 53, died Monday in a Missoula hospital after a two-year battle with cancer.

“Pokey collected friends. He made us laugh,” said Mike Munsey, one of three close friends who spoke at Allen’s 1-hour memorial service in St. Anthony Catholic Church. “He always found something to like in everybody.”

Allen’s cancer diagnosis came just two days after he led his Broncos to the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA national championship game. After undergoing treatment in the off-season, he returned to coach his team to a 7-4 record in 1995.

He took medical leave after new tumors formed in his chest and lungs. Allen returned to coach Boise State’s final two games this season, then resigned Dec. 11.

“He did have a passion for football, but I think people were Pokey’s life,” said Jon Miller of Boise. “He had a special charisma which was courageously inspiring. Some called it magic. He showed us what strength and character are all about. He was a winner … He taught people to never give up.”

Allen returned to Missoula to spend the holidays with his family and friends, including his 3-year-old daughter. He collapsed at his mother’s house and was hospitalized.

Lifelong friend Tom Stage was among a dozen people gathered in Allen’s room when Allen woke up. “‘What are you all staring at?,”’ Stage said Allen asked. “‘Go home and get some sleep.”’

Allen, a standout athlete at Missoula County High School and Utah State, played three seasons in the Canadian Football League. He was an assistant at several schools, including Eastern Washington, before building Portland State into an NCAA Division II powerhouse. Allen took the Boise State job in December 1992.

But it was his personal life that friends talked about Wednesday: the people he befriended, the players’ lives he touched, the coaches he influenced.

“He was the most open, caring, real, unpretentious human being I’ve ever known,” said Miller.

And Allen fought his disease until the end.

“‘You tell everybody I never quit. I never gave up,”’ Munsey said his friend told him. “Well, he didn’t.”