Allen Leroy Passman peacefully passed away at his home, Forrest Heath, on Feb. 11, 2021. Born June 1, 1936, in Baltimore, Maryland, Allen was the son of the late Otto and Mildred (Keilbar) Passman. He was the devoted husband of Elizabeth (Zepp) Passman to whom he was married for 61 years.
All his life Allen loved books and libraries and pictured heaven as being one wondrous library. Allen was the first student at his elementary school to be invited to attend the two-year Robert E. Lee Junior High. At Baltimore City College he was a cross country runner and helped to start the Forest and Stream Club. Both activities followed him for most of his life.
Allen graduated from the University of Maryland College Park with a BA in Social Psychology. For 34 years he was employed by the Social Security Administration under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). On June 12, 1984, HHS held their Honor Awards Ceremony in the Great Hall at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in Washington, D.C. The Secretary’s Distinguished Volunteer Service Award was given for his on-going and extensive volunteer activities on behalf of his community. He had to be actively involved with youth, elderly, and the disabled.
In June 1990, when Allen was a Social Insurance Specialist in the Office of Systems Requirements he was featured in the Oasis, a monthly federal publication. He coordinated the processing of the 800-900 employee suggestions received by OSR every year from SSA’s Central Suggestion Staff. In the Oasis, was written, “We truly value these analysts, specialists and supervisors who have the responsibility to evaluate an idea and decide if it should be implemented by SSA.”
He was a lifetime member of the Maryland Beagle Club, the Roaring Run Lions Club, the Institution Representative for Finksburg Boys Scout Troop 395. He was also a Lifetime Member of the Girl Scout Organization, a member of the Carroll County Historical Society, the Maryland Center for History and Culture and he was also a member of the Train Collectors Association.
For many years Allen helped to host Fourth of July parties at Forrest Heath for folks 2-92. All ages participated in games, relay races, and balloon bursting. For the last picnic, each family created a float for the stream that had a red, white and blue candle. At dusk, the floats were put in at upstream at our bridge, floated down the stream and were caught by younger agile folks.
In retirement, Allen and his wife took five romantic trips to Ireland. Liz orchestrated the itinerary for each 5-week adventure. Usually they stayed at B&B’s and Allen drove the rental cars. They visited the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland where they managed to get locked in a castle.
During his retirement, Allen and his wife ran Greenberg’s Great Train, Dollhouse, and Toy Shows across the U.S. for 17 years.
Allen was preceded in death by his brother Norman. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth, daughter Laura (Passman) Wenderoth and husband Michael, son Mark Passman, wife Jackie and son Norman; granddaughter Autumn (Wenderoth) Klein and husband Chuck; grandson Zachary Passman and granddaughter Kylee Passman.
A Celebration of Life was held on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Eline Funeral Home at 3pm-6pm. The address is 2901 Bloom Road, Finksburg, MD 21048.
Memorial donations are suggested to Saint Thomas Aquinas Church, P.O. Box 200 Thomas, WV 26292.
