Allen A. Skogebo

Allen Arthur Skogebo, 87, of Crownsville, Maryland, went to his heavenly Father on June 4, 2023.  He was at home surrounded by his family.

Allen was born on December 1, 1935, in Austin, Minnesota, the 4^th of 5 children born to Alice and Arnold Skogebo.  His father passed away suddenly when he was 7 years old.  His mother later remarried and had two daughters with his step-father, Tony.  Allen is survived by his wife, Marti, son Gary (Mary), daughter Kristin, daughter Dawn (Rene), son Matthew (Heather), brother Arnold (Jean) and sister Cathie (James).

From a young age Allen and his brothers worked many jobs to help their widowed mother.  During the war years he sold newspapers and gathered various items that could be sold for scrap. When in high school, among other jobs, he worked most nights and weekends cleaning the theater after each movie showing. Somehow he managed to do “most” of his school work and play the lead or a major part in the school plays. Playing lead in The Robe was a highlight for him.  After graduating from high school he took a job with Hormel Foods based in Austin, working in the print shop.  He became an accomplished printer from typesetting to screen printing.  During this time he became active in the Minnesota Jaycees, tirelessly working his way up to President, and eventually to National Vice President.  He wrote the Jaycee’s manual on training young men to become leaders, stressing the importance of giving back to their profession and becoming involved in charity work.  He also became involved in politics on the state level running for the senate.  He was strongly advised by Hormel management that he should drop out of the race. (They had their own candidate.)  Allen loved a good fight but alas was transferred to the sales department and immediately sent East to take over the territory of Maryland, West Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware, selling Hormel products.  He became one of the top selling salesmen during the few years he stayed in that job.  He left Hormel in 1969 becoming a life insurance agent with Mutual of New York (MONY), and never looked back.  His passion for being a servant to his clients to insure that their families and their eventual retirement were taken care of was his primary goal.  He worked tirelessly, continuing to educate himself and expanding his business to include investments and long term care coverage.  He enrolled in the American College of Financial Services early in his career and ultimately earned his Masters of Financial Services in 2011.  Continuing education was so important to him in order to provide the best service he could to his clients.  When he turned 83 he thought it would be a good idea to start working on his PhD in Financial Services. 

Throughout his adult life, Allen earned many prestigious awards and positions.  The one he was most humbled by was being named Man of the Year in 1999 for Mutual of New York (MONY), the highest honor bestowed by one’s peers.  He was a member for 50 years of the Million Dollar Round Table, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals, an international, independent association of less than 1% of the world’s most successful life insurance and financial services professionals. He was President of the Million Dollar Roundtable Foundation, the charity arm of MDRT.  He spent tireless hours and days for many years participating in their annual telethons raising money for the Foundation.  This brought him so much joy and satisfaction.  The year he was president, he was privileged and honored to present a large check to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  Make-A-Wish and St. Jude Children’s Hospital were his top two charities.  Keeping his toes in politics from time to time, in 2013 Allen was appointed to the Anne Arundel County Executive’s Commission on Excellence, holding a leadership position.  They were to review the operations, policies, procedures and processes of every county department and offer recommendations for developing best practices for efficient service delivery to citizens. 

Allen was an extremely compassionate, kind and generous person both in his professional and personal life.  He loved his Lord and Savior, his church of nearly 40 years, and his church family.  He was a servant who loved to usher on Sunday mornings and at special programs throughout the year.  If he learned of a need the church or a member had, he would meet that need if he could or find a way to make it happen.  With few exceptions he chose to keep those gifts anonymous.  Most of all, he loved his family deeply – in the good times, the bad times and everything in between.  He will be forever in their hearts and dearly missed every day.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the non-profit Luminis Health Gilchrist Lifecare Institute, the hospice folks who cared for Allen in his final days. Donations can be made online at https://supportaamc.luminishealth.org/gilchristlifecareinstitute.

“When you make loving [and serving] others the story of your life, there’s never a final chapter, because the legacy continues [one person after another].”  Oprah Winfrey