Allen Gantt Folline Jr.
1939-2006

A celebration of the life of Allen Gantt Folline Jr, 67, devoted family and church man, was held Tuesday, December 5, 2006, at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. The homily was given by his brother-in-law Rev. Joe Harvard who reminded the overflowing congregation, "A giant tree has fallen in the forest with the passing of 'Big Al.'" Burial was in the church yard.

Mr. Folline died Saturday, December 2, 2006. Born in Columbia, he was the son of the late Allen Gantt and Mary Deas Read Folline. He was a 1957 graduate of Dreher High School where he played on state championship football and basketball teams. He graduated in 1961 from The Citadel, where he was commissioned in the United States Air Force. He returned to Columbia and earned a masters degree in civil engineering at the University of South Carolina.

An engineer with Law Engineering and Testing Company in Charlotte, N.C. for seven years, he again returned to Columbia to serve as president of the Columbia office of Law Engineering. He later was president of Walker Laboratories.

In 1983, he began his own civil engineering firm, Allen Folline Associates. He also served as president of the Columbia Chapter of the South Carolina Society of Professional Engineers. In addition to his professional career he taught engineering courses at USC and later at UNC-Charlotte.

He was a devoted communicant at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, where he was active in serving the church's Committee for Mission and Outreach. He was a member of Columbia Rotary Club, the Columbia Citadel Club, Forest Lake Club, and a number of other social clubs and organizations.

Surviving are his wife of 40 years, Fay Harvard Folline; son Allen Gantt Folline III and his wife, Danielle, of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; son Joseph Read Folline and his wife, Lura, of Columbia; daughter Mary Rebecca Deas Folline Rhodes and her husband, Jim, of Columbia; grandchildren Joseph Read Folline Jr., George Lanier Folline, Lottie Vereen Folline, Frances Deas Folline, Elizabeth Gantt Folline, Mary Deas Rhodes, and James Roland Rhodes IV. Allen Folline loved nothing more than the chaos surrounding the family's annual beach trip to Pawleys Island.

Also surviving are sisters: Elizabeth "Beth" Folline Cooley and her husband, Dave, of Hendersonville, N.C.; and Mary "Sister" Folline Morris of Baltimore, Md. Allen Folline was "Uncle Brother" to 13 nieces and nephews.

The family suggests memorials be made to the Trinity Cathedral Committee for Mission and Outreach, c/o Trinity Cathedral, 1100 Sumter Street, Columbia, S.C. 29201.