Earl Allen Jr.

Earl Allen Jr, 100, long-

time Minot realtor,

developer and civic

leader, died, Saturday,

May 23, 2020 in a Minot

nursing home.

Earl Allen Jr. was born

on April 13, 1920 in

Ames, Iowa to Ernest and

Desdamona (Davisson) Al-

len. He spent his youth in

Ames and graduated from

high school and contin-

ued his secondary educa-

tion at Iowa State Univer-

sity. He graduated in

1941 with a Bachelor of

Science Degree in Agri-

cultural Economics with a

focus on money, banking,

and finance. He first

worked on a part time,

and then for a short time

on a full-time basis for

Montgomery Ward & Co.

in the Manager-trainee

program, but terminated

this in favor of Agricul-

tural Extension work for

the U.S. Department of

Agriculture as an assistant

County Agent in Warren

County, Iowa.

Shortly before entering

the armed forces in 1943,

he was engaged in various

business pursuits in the

Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

He served with the Tran-

sportation Corps and later

the U.S. Infantry during

World War II. Upon his

honorable discharge he

returned to the

Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Earl applied to First Ser-

vice Corporation for a po-

sition with First Bank

Stock Corporation. He

was hired as an agricul-

tural representative and

was stationed at Fairmont,

Minnesota, with the First

National Bank. Allen con-

sidered his time spent

with the bank as the most

valuable in his career; his

employment was during a

period when the help

problem was extremely

critical. Allen was able to

substitute for most and

every position within the

bank while various em-

ployees took vacation and

were absent due to sick-

ness or other difficulty.

Earl left First Bank

Stock Corporation to pur-

chase a highway

cafÈ-residential grocery in

1945. This enterprise was

sold and he entered into

the real estate business in

1946 in Fairmont, MN. He

was the founder of

Tri-county Real Estate

Board under the auspices

of the National Associa-

tion of Real Estate Boards,

formed in 1947. He was

the first president of the

Fairbault-Martin-Jackson

Counties Board of Real-

tors.

Earl was elected secre-

tary of the Minnesota As-

sociation of Realtors for

two years, then served for

a very brief period as exe-

cutive secretary of the

Minnesota Association

while arrangements were

being made for the State

Office to be re-negotiated

with the Minneapolis

Board of Realtors.

During this time Earl

conducted a successful

Real Estate Brokerage of-

fice which handled

homes, commercial pro-

perty, and farms. In 1952,

he began to dispose of his

interests in Fairmont and

moved to Tioga, ND. He

opened a real estate office

in the oil capital city of

Tioga, ND, where he did

extensive management

work in both Ray and Tio-

ga for the Broadway In-

vestment Company of Far-

go, under very trying cir-

cumstances. He later

managed two- and

three-bedroom duplexes

at both Ray and Tioga.

It was during this

period that he was suc-

cessful in being appointed

as peridium appraiser for

the Federal Housing Ad-

ministration at Fargo. He

had previously taken Ap-

praisal I at St. Thomas

University in St. Paul.

This experience in

residential appraisals for

the Federal Housing Ad-

ministration and the ac-

companying training was

considered to be some of

the most valuable in his

career.

In 1955, Earl opened a

real estate office in Minot,

and after establishing it

reasonably well, went to

Hamline University in St.

Paul, where he successful-ly completed Appraisal II

under the auspices of the

National Institute of Real

Estate Appraiser.

Shortly thereafter he be-

gan acquiring properties

for the construction of the

first shopping center in

Minot, ND, involving four

city block of property,

1000 to 1500 Fourth Ave-

nue Northwest, across

from Oak Park.

In 1956, he entered the

University of North Dako-

ta Law School where he

attended 27 months out of

the next three years in

completing his degree in

law. In July of 1959, he

passed the North Dakota

Bar Exam, receiving his

license to practice law in

the State of North Dakota.

In the meantime, com-

muting between Grand

Forks and Minot, he suc-

cessfully negotiated, lease

by lease, what is now

known as the Oak Park

Shopping Center. He was

instrumental building the

seven large structures

which he owned and

operated. He built the

building on a joint ven-

ture basis with a specific

contractor which gave

him a wealth of experi-

ence in the expenditure of

approximately three quar-

ters of a million dollars in

construction funds which

was considered to be

some of the most valuable

experience of his career.

He was the chief

representative of the Al-

len Realty Company. Earl

had served as president of

the Minot Board of Real-

tor and as vice president

of the North Dakota Asso-

ciation of Realtors. He had

received the Outstanding

Realtor Award in Min-

nesota, a Plaque which

carried with it consider-

able prestige.

Earl was qualified in

both the District Courts

and U.S. Federal Court as

an expert witness along

appraisal lines and testi-

fied on many occasions.

He never missed a State

Convention and attended

over two thirds of the Na-

tional Conventions of the

National Association of

Real Estate Boards since

1948.

He was devoted

member of the Minot

Kiwanis Club and earned

recognition for 60 Years of

perfect attendance.

Earl was previously

married to Ethel Mae

Baldus from 1945-1970

with daughters Dee Ann

Allen of Brevard, NC,

Donna Barto of Salt Lake

City, UT and grandson

Jeremy Almquist, Salt

Lake City, UT.

Earl was united in mar-

riage to Wylma Sund on

March 10, 1992. They

made their home in Minot

and enjoyed nearly two

decades of companion-

ship and family. Earl

adored his grandchildren

and provided opportuni-

ties for them to succeed.

Earl’s and Wylma’s fami-

ly include Tim (Kim)

Knutson, Minot, Brad

Fimrite, Billings, MT and

Andy (Darla) Fimrite, Bur-

lington, ND; Ida (Bob)

Landers, Everett, WA;

grandchildren Carrie

Landers, Aftin Boling,

Brenna Ohman, Christo-

pher Fimrite, Kelly Fim-

rite, Allison Knutson,

Tobi Knutson and Cal-

liope Knutson.

Earl was preceded in

death by his parents, Eth-

el Mae and Wylma.

Celebration of Earl’s

Life: 11:00 a.m. Monday,

June 1, 2020 at Our

Redeemer’s Church,

Minot

Interment with military

honors: Rosehill Memori-al Park, Minot, ND

Public Visitation: Sun-

day, May 31, 2020 from

3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at

the Thomas Family Fun-

eral Home, Minot

Memorials are pre-

ferred to Dakota Hope

Clinic in Minot.

Memories and con-

dolences can be shared at

www.thomasfamilyfunera

lhome.com