Sitting at his greeter desk, he questions all visitors’ state of business at Dowling and gives them a nametape. This person is Frank Allen, and he has been greeting at Dowling Catholic for 25 years now! 

Frank Allen was born on February 26th, 1939, and is a local Des Moines resident. He started his education at Logan Elementary from 1944-1945 but then went to St. Ambrose starting in 1st grade. He was baptized, confirmed, and got his first communion when he graduated in 8th grade. Allen went from 1946-1954 and said he enjoyed his time there and was glad he got a Catholic education at a young age. He went to Dowling High School from 1954-1958—located in what has now been refurbished as the Grubb YMCA—and he did football and track all four years. In football, he played linebacker, running, and halfback; he did track and field to condition during the off-season. 

“We weren’t a winning team,” he said, “but I always wanted to play and loved it because it was a contact sport.” There is one constant theme he always said during my interview with him. He always trusted God ever since his elementary days, and Allen always had a plan that he was dead set on. This is a constant reminder he tells himself and has told me ever since I met him at church. 

Allen states he graduated from high school on a Friday, and that following Monday, he started his first job at Dave Ostrom Imports for foreign cars. It was the first foreign car dealer in Des Moines, Iowa, and fortunately, his cousin was employed in that company. His cousin was leaving for Florida and offered him his position at the company. Allen worked at Ostrom Shipping from 1958 to October 1960 and enjoyed it there.

In October 1960, he was 21 years old, single, and wanted to see the world. He ended up doing what most men at the time did and that was to join the army. He went to Fort Riley for his basic training where he learned the baseline skills to be a United States Army soldier. After their training, he went to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for his job as a wheeled vehicle mechanic which was 8 weeks in total. 

In March 1961, he was on a troop ship from New Jersey to Germany to begin 31 months of living and working there. He spent his time in Dahn, Germany, and had a three-year commitment to Uncle Sam. Allen stated that he enjoyed his time in Germany and enjoyed the culture that was around at the time. In October 1963, he was officially discharged from the army and he was on a troop ship back to the States. He landed in New York City and picked up his car which was a TR 1963. He bought it in Germany for a cheaper price than what he would have bought it for in the States. When he got back home to Des Moines, he didn’t work for the first month because of the military pay he had earned during his service. Fortunately enough, his brother worked for Colonial Bread and so Allen started working for it as well part-time. He was there from October to December of 1963, and his job was to sanitize bread carts during the work hours. In March of 1964, he left Colonial Bread, but God had already got something else lined up for him.

On April 1st, 1964, Allen started working at John Deere, and he was a material handler. His occupation was to make sure the welding production was in line and that money was being made for the company and workers. He got paid hourly at $1.50/hour, but he had ambitions for $5/hour at the time. He attempted four times to get hired for a higher position in John Deere. He wanted to prove himself as a hard worker because of the racial segregation in our country at the time. White workers were discriminating him because they thought he wouldn’t do as good a job as they did. 

September of that same year, he was laid off for five months but found a part-time job as a janitor at the Lucas Building which is located on the East side of the capital. He had a 90 day probationary period but eventually denied the job because he knew John Deere would be calling back. Allen was right, and they ended up calling back to give him a job there. 

It was early summer of 1971, and he got the job as a foreman at John Deere. At the time, he only had a high school diploma, and 3 years of military service when he got the position. He was only an assembler when he got offered the job but took the foreman position right away. Allen still faced racial segregation but stated proudly, “It never bothered me.” 

He was a production supervisor for over 25 years, and on July 18th, 1997, he retired from John Deere. He did nothing after he retired but was active in church as a lector and Eucharistic minister. In 1972, he started as a Eucharistic Minster and then became a lector for the readings. This was right after the Vatican II council in which laypeople were offered more opportunities to participate in the mass. 

“People looked up to me as a leader because Vatican II was revolutionary at the time, and they were scared they didn’t want to mess up the holy mass.” He still lectors and gives out the Bread and Blood of Christ at St. Ambrose where he attends the 8:30am service.

Now, the way Allen got to be a greeter was from a phone call from Monsignor Hess in 1999 who was the president of Dowling at the time. He wanted to start the greeter’s program because of the Columbine school shooting that happened earlier that year. Both parents and the school approved of this program because it gave them peace of mind and a sense of security for the students. Allen decided to do it on Wednesdays from 12-3:30pm and has been doing it since. He says that parents really appreciate what he and the other greeters do because of the expressions on their faces. Parents feel relieved knowing no stranger or unwanted visitor will come through the halls of Dowling without going through the greeter first. 

Along with greeting people as they come in, he has also seen teachers, students, and faculty transform into better people. He used to see staff that weren’t vibrant or student-friendly but throughout his time at the desk, he has seen them transform into better people. He believes that faith was an important aspect to their transformation because, without faith, you will get nowhere as he stated. People really enjoy talking to Allen because he is a good listener and also doesn’t make the topic about himself. Rather, he makes it personal and chimes in with his wisdom for the other person. He also offers confidentiality and offers his time to listen to what they got to say.

 Throughout this journey, he always relied on God for everything, and on Dec.10th, 1966, he got married to his wife, Sandy. They met back in April of 1964, and at the time, she was engaged to a different man. Sandy and Frank were happily married for 51 years and 355 days, having three sons. Frank Allen III, Marcus Allen, and Gregory Allen. Sadly, Sandy passed away on November 30th, 2018 due to cancer building up in her body over the years. All sons were Dowling grads and football players here. Marcus and Gregory got a full-ride scholarship to ISU (Iowa State University) for football. Allen currently has eight grandchildren living all over the country. 

A piece of advice he gives to everyone reading this article is “Always remember your creator,” meaning always be humble and never brag about yourself. Allen believes that everything is done on God’s will and all boils down to faith. “Faith over everything,” he proudly states. 

Frank is now 85, turning 86 in February of next year. This is his last year here as a greeter as he has been serving Dowling for over 25 years in that position. He is here on Wednesdays from 12-3:30 pm, and invites anyone who needs life advice or just needs a person to talk to. Dowling is blessed to have a man such as Frank Allen not just greeting the visitors that come in but offering companionship to staff and students here as well.

“Without faith, you will fail.” -Frank Allen

Gallery • 7 Photos

Luke Tuang

Allen uses this counting tool to count the students praying in the chapel. Each greeter takes attendance on how many students utilize the chapel.