Ward Sykes (Luke) Allen
December 3, 2017

Ward (Luke) Allen was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1922. His great-grandfather and namesake, Col. William Walker Ward, was third in command of Morgan’s Men behind Morgan himself and Gen. Basil Duke. Ward Allen served in the army during WWII. When his superiors realized he had a gift for languages, they set him to work in cryptography. He returned to Nashville after the war and attended Vanderbilt University where he studied Classics and ultimately earned a PhD in English. Accompanied by his wife and four children, he moved to Auburn, Alabama in 1964 to teach English at Auburn University where he remained until he retired in 1987.  In 1964 he discovered the notes of John Bois, secretary of the committee of translators of the King James Bible. He translated and published those notes as “Translating for King James: Notes made by a translator of King James’s Bible” and subsequently published more books about the King James Bible. He, his wife, and one daughter left the Episcopal Church in 1976 and converted to Orthodoxy in 1978. He was a gregarious teacher with a gift for making friends. Students often gathered at his house near Auburn’s campus for an afternoon walk. More than one student converted to Orthodoxy after being invited to church at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Ward (Luke) Allen passed away at the home of his daughter and son-in-law in Lexington, Kentucky December 3, 2017. He is buried next to his wife in the Confederate section of Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.