R. Allen Brandt

R. Allen Brandt, 80, of North Hampton, passed away on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, surrounded by his immediate family: his wife of more than 50 years, Jill, and his two sons, Jamie and Ryan. Born in Lowell, Mass. in 1943, Allen was the oldest of four raised by his mother, Ilene Stelley. He grew up in Framingham, Mass., Silverton, Ohio, and Londonderry and Nashua, NH, graduating from Nashua High School in 1961. A guidance counselor once told him he didn’t have what it took to go to college; instead, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree, a B.S. in business, from the University of New Hampshire in 1966 and later obtained an M.B.A. from University of Rhode Island in 1972. At UNH, he met Jill while working as the “house boy” preparing meals in her sorority. They married in 1969. Some of their fondest early years were spent sailing together off Narragansett and on Long Island Sound during Allen’s early positions in sales and marketing for Exxon Mobil. They settled in North Hampton, NH in 1980 and for the next 33 years, he battled rush hour traffic every day to and from Exxon’s regional headquarters just north of Boston. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was making it to every academic and athletic event (in that order of unmistakable priority) of his two sons' despite this long commute. Whether it was serving as a timer on a pool deck on Saturdays, hustling to a 3:30 p.m. mid-week soccer game, or spending all of a beautiful summer weekend in a sweltering gym at a basketball tournament, he was his sons’ biggest cheerleader. And they knew it. He loved being the center of the party, oftentimes with a Coors Original in hand. His favorite party trick at weddings and other formal events was getting his entire table to try to hang spoons on their noses, chins, etc. A crowning achievement was if he could get the waitstaff to join in. An accomplished home chef, he never held back from adding a little more garlic or butter. You couldn’t rely on his dishes to be healthy, but they always tasted good. The most famous outputs: the apple pies and applesauce he handmade from backyard trees and delivered to friends each Christmas. He was unrelentingly sarcastic and a master of diffusing any tense situation with a quip. You might be annoyed or frustrated with him, but you had no choice, you could only laugh. He balanced seeking out fun times in life - oftentimes with a very strong and sometimes raucous friend group in North Hampton - with meticulous thoroughness and Yankee thriftiness. He spent an entire month preparing the household taxes each spring. He was an active volunteer on the town Zoning Board for more than two decades. He wrapped every single stocking present at Christmas down to pencils and gift cards. One story that became legendary among friends was when his attempt to find a deal on the family’s first PC in the late-’80s by sourcing parts from different suppliers blew up spectacularly when he was forced to spend every night after dinner for the five weeks leading up to Christmas trying to get it to work alongside longtime friend, Terry Mackin, chuckling (and helping) alongside. Allen retired in 2003. In between trips and planning his next travel excursion with Jill and diligently researching to find his retirement toy (a silver convertible Honda S2000), he pursued his longtime interest in archaeology as a volunteer with Strawbery Banke Museum’s Collections Department and as an usher at The Music Hall. He also was an early adopter and evangelizer of pickleball, helping run weekly pickup games in both North Hampton and in the Florida Keys, where he and Jill loved to spend winters with friends. Allen is survived by his wife, Jill, his two younger sisters, Carolyn Brandt-Crittenden and Leslie Brandt, his two sons, Jamie and Ryan, and their families, including four grandkids. He’s predeceased by his mother, Ilene, and brother, David Brandt. Family and friends will gather to remember Allen for a period of visitation on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. in the Remick and Gendron Funeral Home, 811 Lafayette Road, Hampton, NH. A memorial service will immediately follow at 12 p.m. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Allen’s memory to either the Winnacunnet Dollars for Scholars Program or the Strawberry Banke Collections Department.

R. Allen Brandt

December 13, 1943 - August 9, 2024