Fred Robert Allen, DVM, 89, of Ashland, NH died on 2/9/2026

Dr. Allen was born April 23,1936 in Columbus, Ohio (the oldest of eight boys) where his father was attending veterinary college at The Ohio State University.  Moving to Durham, New Hampshire at age 5, he attended Durham grade school and graduated from Dover High School in 1954.

The family operated a dairy farm which won many awards and for many years was the top producing herd in its size category in New Hampshire. 

Fred was involved in 4-H for many years and was also very active in scouting from Cub Scouts through senior scouting.  He attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Valley Forge, PA in 1950 with nearly 50,000 scouts in attendance.

He attended the University of New Hampshire, graduating at the top of his class   in 1958 from the College of Agriculture as a Pre-Veterinary major.  While at UNH Fred became a brother of Alpha Gamma Rho, an agriculture major’s fraternity and continued to live at and work on the family farm.  In 1957 he was their delegate to their national convention.   He was also nominated to two scholastic honorary societies, Alpha Zeta and Phi Kappa Phi while at UNH and was Alpha Zeta’s delegate to their national convention.

Fred continued his education at the University of California, Davis where he obtained his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) in 1962.  He returned back to New Hampshire upon graduation.

After working for the Cilley Animal Hospital in Concord for three years he founded Plymouth Animal Hospital in Plymouth, NH.  The practice offered veterinary coverage to both farm animals and pets, from mice to elephants, snakes to skunks!  The hospital was first located in the “Clark Farm” in West Plymouth (where Harris Furniture is now located) with the family residence in the main house portion and the hospital located in the ell and additions.  The practice grew to include several employed veterinarians and a large staff, from kennel help to veterinary technicians. 

Fred was elected president of the New Hampshire Veterinary Medical Association in 1972 and several years later was appointed by the Governor and the Governor’s Council to the New Hampshire Board of Veterinary Medicine for a five-year term, serving as president of the Board in the fifth year.     The Board’s duty is to qualify and license, certify and register individuals to practice veterinary medicine and surgery in New Hampshire and to establish and enforce administrative rules and laws regarding such practice.

He was a long-term member of the Plymouth Rotary Club and acted as club president in 1972.  That year the Club received a district award for the Club’s weekly newsletter and for having the highest weekly attendance ever in the district.  The Club had also the highest attendance ever at the yearly district conference that year.

Dr. Allen was a long-time competitive rifle shooter starting in his freshman year of high school, winning many matches and championships.  He became a NRA certified shooting and safety instructor at age 17 and has continued instructing for 65 years including the past 45 years in the New Hampshire Hunter Education and Bowhunter Education program as a Certified Instructor and with many years as a Chief Instructor.

He cherished the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, camping and hiking from early childhood and enjoyed these in many states including Alaska, Wyoming and Colorado, Ohio, Maine, Vermont and Pennsylvania as well as New Hampshire.  Hunting with archery became a passion and he passed this interest on to many others.

For twenty years in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s he owned and operated Little Millsfield Camps in Millsfield, NH.  The Camp consisted of five log cabins on 39 acres, Little Millsfield Pond (Moose Pond), a trout pond maintained by the NH Fish and Game Department for fly fishing only.  It was located five miles into the woods east of Rt 16 between Milan and Errol.  Cabin rentals including meals were extremely popular and brought sports enthusiasts from all over the country during fishing and hunting seasons.     

He was extremely proud of his long-term relationship with the Pemigewasset Valley Fish and Game Club with over 50 years of membership including 15 years as president.  Over the years he donated an estimated 18-20 thousand hours of his time and organized or oversaw many thousands of dollars of club income in donations and fundraisers!  He was directly involved in many Club upgrades and improvements including to shooting ranges, grounds and facilities.

His greatest pride and joy was his family.  He met his wife, Lyn, at UNH in 1955 where she was a secretary to his Dad and they married August 31, 1957, the best decision of his life!  Together they raised four children, two girls and two boys and the family enjoyed many vacation trips including Disney, DC and the Smithsonian, Jackson Hole and a wilderness pack-in trip into the Gros Ventre mountains of southern Wyoming.  He took many hunting and fishing trips to Wyoming, Colorado, Alaska, Pennsylvania New Jersey, and Maine, often with son Steve.

Survivors include wife, Lyn (Spoor) and four “children”: Karen (Paquette) and husband, Greg with grandchildren Brittany and Hannah; Nancy Allen and grandchildren Heather, Nick, Alex and Savannah; Steven and wife Holly; Mark and wife Andrea with grandchildren Jordan and Zachary. As well as eight great grandchildren. He was predeceased by grandchildren Benjamin, Chelsea and Ryan as well as 3 of his seven brothers.

There will be no services or funeral at this time and a gathering to celebrate the life and times of Dr Allen will be announced at a later date.   Dupuis Funeral Home in Ashland are assisting the family with the arrangements.  For more information, go to Dupuisfuneralhome.com