Allan Morrell West

Allan M. West

Logan, Utah: Allan M. West, 94, formerly the acting chief administrative officer of the National Education Association and long-time Executive Secretary of the Utah Education Association, died September 22, 2005. Born in Portland, Oregon to Ray B. West and Marry Morrell West, he was raised n Logan, Utah. Mr. West attended the University of California at Berkeley, graduated from Utah State University with a degree in business administration, and did post-graduate work at the University of Chicago. On December 2, 1932 he married Ferne Page of Payson, Utah in the LDS Logan temple. Together they celebrated their seventy-second wedding anniversary this past year.
Early in his career he began working on behalf of Utah’s teachers. In 1956, he was part of a select group who were invited to go to Russia to study the Russian school system. In 1961 he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the largest educational organization in the United Sates, the National Education Association, where he held numerous leadership roles including Acting Executive Director. While working for the NEA he sought, among other things, to integrate the black and white NEA affiliates in the sixties and to promote collective bargaining by teachers. Author of numerous articles and a definitive book documenting the history of the NEA, he battled for better schools in forums ranging from PTA meetings and one-room schools to the Utah legislature, the halls of Congress, and international conferences.
Over the years, he was a member of the Utah Symphony Board, Chair of the opening of the Salt Lake Center for the Arts (Abravanel Hall), and a member of the Old Main Society. He was Executive Committee Member of the Utah State Public School Survey Commission, Vice Chair of the Utah Educational Research Council, Trustee of the Utah Educational Television Foundation, and a member of the Boards of Directors of the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education and the national United Nations Association.
His exemplary accomplishments and humane concerns on behalf of education and civil rights were recognized when he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree by Utah State University. The accompanying citation described him as “...a gentleman in all situations, a person of warmth, soft spoken, unruffled by adversity, quiet and unassuming in [his] persistence, unsurpassed in [his] integrity, and modest in [his] many victories.”
He leaves behind his devoted wife, Ferne, their two sons: Stephen A. West (Martha), Jonathan P. West (Colleen), his five grandchildren: S. Allan West, Page West Mallett, Adam S. West, Jonathan L. West, and Brigham N. West, and twelve great grandchildren.
A funeral will be held at the Allen-Hall Mortuary Chapel, 34 East Center Street, Logan, Utah 84321 at noon on Wednesday, September 28, 2005. Prior to the funeral a viewing will be held at the mortuary from 10:30-11:45 a.m. Burial will be in the Logan City Cemetery. The family wishes to give special thanks to many who were so kind and loving to him at Logan House and Alpine Hospital. Condolences may be sent to the family and a guest book signed at www.allenmortuaries.net