Donald V. Allgeier (1915-1955)-Part One

Teacher, College Professor, Soldier, Writer
Born October 31, 1915, Mountain Grove, Missouri
Died February 19, 1955, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Donald Vinson Allgeier was born on October 31, 1915, in Mountain Grove, Missouri, to Harry Vinson Allgeier and Elsie Louise (Van Wormer) Allgeier. In 1929, a teenaged Donald Allgeier visited with his second cousin in West Plains, Missouri. You'll know his name--rather the name of his son. He was one of the most well-known collectors and publishers of comic art in America. I'll have more on him in the second part of this series.

Donald Allgeier was a smart, talented, and active young man. In 1929, he won a spelling bee. In 1933 or 1934, he matriculated at Southwest Missouri State Teachers College in Springfield. There he worked on the staff of the school newspaper, The Southwest Standard, and was vice-president the Commercial Club. He directed a one-act play, The Lady at the Window, with the South Street Christian Church youth group in Springfield in 1937. And in 1938, he graduated with distinction with a bachelor of science degree in education. After graduating, Allgeier taught at Springfield Senior High School.

Allgeier began his military training at a Citizens' Military Training Camp (CMTC), probably while he was a college student. He was commissioned as a reserve officer, presumably a second lieutenant, in 1938. He entered the U.S. Army in August 1941. Just four months later, his country was at war.

Things happened fast in those days. They had to. No one knew what tomorrow would bring, and they had to live while they could. After a short engagement, Donald V. Allgeier and Martha Elizabeth Reynolds (1919-2009) were married at South Street Christian Church on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1941. Eighty-one years ago today: an act of hope in a time of war. Following a brief vacation, Allgeier returned to his station at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. By the way, his wife, who was called Elizabeth, was also a teacher.

I'm not sure that you can call Donald Allgeier anything but a great man. For forty-one months--from 1942 to 1945--he served overseas with the U.S. Army, in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, North Africa, and Italy. He was a combat infantryman and liaison officer with the 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division and with the headquarters unit of the 85th Infantry Division. As part of General Mark Clark's 5th Army, Allgeier landed in Italy on October 1, 1943. He was in Italy on the day Rome was liberated, June 4, 1944. I don't know that he was in Rome that day, but he saw Rome and called it the most beautiful city he had ever seen. Allgeier's brother Robert K. Allgeier was also in the war. He was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces and served in the Pacific Theater.

Allgeier didn't seem to waste any time once he returned to civilian life. He received his master's degree from New York University in June 1946. From there he wandered through the academic world, teaching business administration and communications at: Packard Commercial School, Manhattan, 1946; University of Oklahoma, 1946-1947; Ohio State University, 1947-1950; Southwest Texas State College, September 1950-May 1953; University of Wisconsin; and Marquette University. He received his Ph.D. at Ohio State University in 1953.

Donald V. Allgeier had the fourth-most number of letters printed in "The Eyrie," the regular letters column of Weird Tales magazine. There were 29 in all by his hand, placing him between Gertrude Hemken (32) and Henry Kuttner (28). His first was in June 1932, when he was sixteen years old. His last came in November 1940. His letter of June 1934, subtitled "C.L. Moore Not a Pen Name," prompted the magazine to reveal that C.L. Moore was not the pen name of "some famous writer," as Allgeier had suggested. But then it didn't go so far as to reveal her true identity, which was, as we know, Catherine L. Moore of Indianapolis. Allgeier did business and educational writing, too, with articles in Journal of Business Education, Journal of Higher Education, Business Education World, and Collegiate News and Views. This was after the war.

In addition to his many letters in Weird Tales, Allgeier wrote letters published in Astounding Stories, A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine (Oct. 1950), and Fantastic Story Magazine (Summer 1952). He had been to war and had fathered two children--he had received two advanced degrees and had taught for several years in a very matter-of-fact field--but in his heart, it seems clear, he was still a fan of fantasy and science fiction. If he had lived, maybe there would have been more letters--and maybe even a story or two.

But Donald Allgeier didn't live. Instead, he died entirely too young, at age thirty-nine, of a heart attack and pneumonia. The date was February 19, 1955, the place, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was buried at Wade Chapel Cemetery in Republic, Missouri. His wife survived him by more than half a century.

Donald V. Allgeier's Letters in Weird Tales & Other Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazines
Click here for a link to a list in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.

Next: Donald Allgeier's cousin.

Donald V. Allgeier (1915-1955), from Ozarko, the yearbook of Southwest Missouri State Teachers College, 1935.

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Merry Christmas to All!

Text copyright 2022, 2023 Terence E. Hanley