Allen Battholomew

On Friday, January 21, 2022, Allen Bartholomew, loving husband, father, grandfather and uncle, passed away at the age of 69. Allen was born on December 6, 1952 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and preceded by Allen Nicholas and Victoria Barthelemy. On September 22, 1977, he married Jean Theresa (Renard) Bartholomew. They raised five children: John Esteen, Sonya Esteen-Bridgewater, LaMica Esteen, Allen Bartholomew II, and Aspen Bartholomew. Allen is also survived by eight grandchildren, one great-grandchild and was eagerly anticipating additional grandchildren. He attended St Augustine and graduated from John McDonald ’35 High School. Allen was a Sergeant in the Air Force (1970-1976), traveled to the Phillipines and was stationed in Tucson, Arizona. Allen was first and foremost a man of God, was full of love for his family and never met a stranger. He was the life of the party and understood and practiced extending that love to others as his charge from God. Family was a foundational source of life and happiness for Allen. His wife Jean, children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews were the most important elements of his life and he served as a rock of stability to all family members. He was always there in everyone’s time of need or to share in their joy and accomplishments. He worked incredibly hard to give his family the intangibles of family traditions, stories, and life knowledge. He regularly convened family gatherings and family trips and urged everyone to attend, whether near or far. He loved taking the family to see Disney and Marvel movies, planned family group activities like go-cart riding, walking through Celebration in the Oaks at Christmastime and going to the water park in summertime. Food was an integral part of family gatherings for Allen. He enjoyed cooking as a labor of love for his family and he has passed the legacy of cooking specific dishes down to many family members. He prided himself on being efficient in cooking as well as everything he put his hands to. He taught that steps within a recipe should be done as efficiently as possible, all resulting in those traditional Creole dishes we came to love. Uncle Al’s specialty Gumbo, deep fried turkey, crawfish pies, pecan candy, stewed rabbit, lemon cake were just a few favorites in the line-up. His drive to be efficient extended to repairs, home upgrades, gardening and other projects. He believed wholeheartedly and taught that all of your steps should maximize efficiency and minimize the work now and into the future. He also demanded quality work and quality effort. He loved football! He played a football board game with family and friends for over 15 years and was the 5-time “Winky Bowl” champion. If a family gathering took place during a Saints game, everyone had to have Saints gear on for the day. While it could take weeks to recover from a Saints playoff loss, the joy of the 2009 Superbowl victory was ecstasy! Following his retirement from Xerox, he relished that he had more time to do all of these things he enjoyed and cherished: watching the Saints, planning trips to Disney World, spending all of the holidays with family, traveling and loving his wife. Allen’s Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Corpus Christi-Epiphany Catholic Church, 2022 St. Bernard Avenue on Friday, January 28, 2022 at 11:00 am. Visitation will begin at 9:30 am. Interment: Monday, February 7, 2022, Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, Slidell, LA. Arrangements by D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home, 3933 Washington Avenue. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral.com to sign the guestbook.