Allen Wilson King, of Charleston, Arkansas, died Sunday, December 27, 2020, at Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith. He was born on June 7, 1928, in Charleston, to the late James Perry King and Ella Wee Collier King. He was 92 years old. He was preceded in death by a brother, Paul King, and a sister, Irene Hudson.

Allen grew up on his father's farm in the Grand Prairie area. He was the fourth generation to farm in the area where his great-grandfather settled in 1857. Times were hard and the story was told by the late Charlie Wakefield that he visited Allen's father, Perry King, to look at some steers. Mr. Wakefield asked Perry why the boy plowing with a team north of the house wasn't in school. Perry's answer was, "He isn't old enough." His wife of seventy years, Opal Rice King, lived nearby and worked some for Perry. They were married on February 3, 1950, while Opal was a senior in high school. They waited seven years and ten months to have their first child, Lesa Beth, and their second, Mark Allen, 16 months later. Allen began operating a bulldozer in 1955 for J.T Boyd. He bought his own dozer in 1962 and was in private business until 1974 when a ruptured disc necessitated his retirement from full time operation. He became a full time cattle rancher and continued that work even raking and mowing hay this past summer. Through the years he enjoyed riding horses and motorcycles with his children, square dancing, and later ballroom dancing with Opal and was always ready for a good Rook game where he would usually always bid the highest. He loved nothing more than to see how many round bales he could roll up in one day. He said it was so hard when he was a kid that he just loved to see the baler eat up the windrow usually running in sixth gear if the ground was smooth. He would really brag on the rake hand who could make straight windrows. He wanted to make everything as easy as possible. He was in heaven when he bought his first cab tractor with air conditioning in 1983.  He spent years hauling shale and building steel corrals. He was the most faithful husband to Opal taking care of her in recent years through health issues of her own. While not being able to help on the farm as much, he became a lawnmower and four wheeler mechanic. He just received a new carburetor for one of the four wheelers last week. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church where he served in various capacities through the years. When his children were in high school, he rarely missed a Tiger basketball game and still attended when he could through the years. He was a proud 1946 graduate of Charleston High School and always attended the annual alumni weekend events. He loved his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who, if they were able, ate pizza at his house every Sunday evening. He said that Jesus was the only perfect man and that he knew he was right with Him. He rarely asked anything for himself and was always thinking of things to do for his family. They just better not touch his TV remote while his westerns were on. He would relent to let the girls watch Hallmark and would even DVR the shows and watch them himself. He hated commercials. He was a great example of hard work, perseverance, endurance, and love, and he will be sincerely missed by many.

Funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, January 2nd, at Brotherton Funeral Home Chapel in Charleston. Burial will follow at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Charleston, under the direction of Brotherton Brothers Funeral Home and Flower Shop in Charleston. Officiating the service will be Pastor Daniel Thueson.

Allen is survived by his wife of 70 years, Opal Pearl Rice King, of the home, his daughter, Lesa King Tedford and husband John of Lavaca; his son, Mark King and wife Linda of Charleston; sister Marjo Hill (Duane) of Charleston, sister-in-law Bettye King of Charleston, brothers-in-law Dale Rice (Joanie), Don Rice, and Ron Rice (Lynn) of Charleston; and sisters-in-law Cleta Muller and Phyllis Bowe of Portland, Oregon. He is survived by Lesa's children, Lane Barrows Crosno (Michael) and children Beau Price and Layla; Kirk Barrows (Rylea) and children Opie and Porter; Lesa's step children, Jonathan (Brooke) Tedford and children Sutton and Hymbree; Jessica (Richard) Grenier and son Tyler Evans; and Jeremy Tedford. Mark's children, Daniel (Angela) King and children Jace, Lynlee, and Ryan; Amy King, Hannah (Jordan) Wilson and children Seth, Isaiah, Jana, Raylan, and Zachary; Josh (Paige) and son Allen and one on the way; Nathan (Whitley) King, Joseph King, and David (fiance Kinsey) King. He is also survived by cousins and many nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers are Kirk Barrows, Daniel King, Joshua King, Nathan King, Joseph King, David King, Michael Crosno, and Travis Rice.

Honorary pallbearers are Dale Rice, Don Rice, Ron Rice, Duane Hill, Travis Ballard, and Ken McFerran.

Public viewing will begin Wednesday, December 30th, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Thursday, December 31st, from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. There will not be a set family visitation.

Due to the rise of COVID-19 cases, please have on a mask before entering the funeral home. Your cooperation is very much appreciated at this time. Thank You

To place an online tribute, please visit www.brothertonbrothersfuneralhomes.com.