[CANUFNET] Remembering Mike Allen

[Timothy Yeaman]

A great eulogy for a wonderful person - all the best and condolences to his
family at this time.

On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 7:22 AM jackandali--- via CANUFNET <
canufnet at list.web.net> wrote:

> I would also mention that the late Willem (Bill Morsink) also worked with
> Mike and Dr. Martin Hubbes towards a vaccine for DED that was tested in
> Manitoba / Winnipeg area.
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> Jack Radecki RCA 342
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> *From:* CANUFNET <canufnet-bounces at list.web.net> *On Behalf Of *PHILIP
> WASSENAER via CANUFNET
> *Sent:* Tuesday, July 1, 2025 5:15 PM
> *To:* Mike Rosen via CANUFNET <canufnet at list.web.net>
> *Cc:* PHILIP WASSENAER <pwassenaer1022 at rogers.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [CANUFNET] Remembering Mike Allen
>
>
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> Thank you so Much Michael for this written eulogy fir Mike. He was a great
> freind, colleague and mentor to me and always a gracious host.
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> His imprint on Winnipeg urban forestry will not fade for a long time.
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> May he rest in peace.
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> Sad news but thanks for sharing it.
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> Philip
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> Philip van Wassenaer, B.SC., MFC
> 1331 Northaven Drive
> Mississauga, Ontario
> Canada, L5G 4E8
> Tel: (905) 274-1022
> Cell: (647) 221 3046
> Fax: (905) 274 2170
>
>
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> On Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at 11:25:36 a.m. EDT, Mike Rosen via CANUFNET <
> canufnet at list.web.net> wrote:
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> Mike Allen
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> Mike Allen was part of the “first wave” of professional urban foresters in
> Canada. He passed away on June 8th in Kelowna, B.C. at the age of 79.
>
> Born in England, he came to Canada with his family at an early age,
> graduating from high school in Scarborough, ON. He received a B.Sc.
> Forestry from the University of Toronto in 1970 and then worked for two
> years in Nigeria, teaching about sustainable tree practices and directing
> reforestation efforts there. He received his Master’s in Forestry in 1975
> and was a part of the *Shade Tree Laboratory*; established by the
> grandfather of urban forestry - U of T forestry professor Erik Jorgensen in
> 1962. Jorgensen oversaw Mike’s Master’s thesis which used sociological
> principles to study the effect of trees on property values in the Beaches
> area of Toronto – a concept very much ahead of its time.
>
> While at U of T, Mike met his wife, Susan, who was a sociology student at
> the time. He married her in1973 and they were lifelong partners for 52
> years.
>
> Upon graduation he worked for Ecoplans Ltd. In Kitchener, ON and for
> Centre Gas in Edmonton, AB. Mike eventually was recruited to be the City of
> Winnipeg’s urban forester by John Hreno in 1988. He stayed in that position
> until 2001, building an urban forestry program that is known as one of the
> best in Canada for its successes in maintaining canopy cover in a city that
> was a natural prairie.
>
> He instinctively understood the crucial role that city council played in
> maintaining canopy cover. He was fearless in contacting the media to seek
> their support to preserve Winnipeg’s trees. Indeed, when media “gag orders”
> were issued by municipal managers, Mike was often an exception – his
> natural media skills being that good. He was a regular columnist for the
> Winnipeg Free Press, on Dorothy Dobbie’s gardening show on CJOB and in the
> Canadian Gardener magazine.
>
> One of his proudest career achievements was his steadfast refusal to a
> request by the actor Brad Pitt to cut the trees in the Exchange District
> for the 1994 film, “Legends of the Fall”, filmed in Winnipeg because of its
> resemblance to midwestern American cities of another era.
>
> He understood the power of citizen support and cultivated relationships
> with the *Coalition to Save the Elms,* a group of concerned citizens who
> came together in 1992 to preserve North America’s largest remaining urban
> elm forest from the devastation of Dutch Elm Disease. The Coalition
> developed into *Trees Winnipeg* in which he maintained close
> relationships with Gerry Engel, Matt Vinet and Richard Westwood among
> others. Martha Barwinsky, herself once the Director of the Coalition,
> learned much from Mike, eventually becoming the city’s urban forester.
>
> In 2001, after leaving the City of Winnipeg, he developed an urban
> forestry consulting company, *Viburnum Tree Experts*. He
> provided consulting services to universities, residents, developers, legal
> cases, and others as “Dr. Tree”. Mike authored books including, “Dr. Tree’s
> Guide to the Common Diseases of Urban Prairie Trees”. He collaborated in
> the *International Society of Arboriculture*’s Certified Arborist course.
> He was, until 2019, a Registered Professional Forester with the Ontario
> Professional Foresters Association. He was a judge for
> *Communities-in-Bloom* which influenced his decision to move to Kelowna,
> B.C. in 2021, along with the fact that his son, James, and daughter-in-law,
> Sarah, had moved there previously.
>
> In 2022, his son James scrawled the words “Grandma & Grandpa” on his
> (favourite) Starbucks coffee cup, indicating that there was a grandchild on
> the way – a life changing experience for the family.
>
> Mike had a vast knowledge of trees and our connections with nature, and
> was a champion of the arboriculture and urban forestry discipline. He loved
> to share his knowledge and experiences with others, and he mentored many.
> To those who knew him, Mike exemplified not only the very best in an urban
> forester, but was also a person whose passion, kindness and honesty can
> never be forgotten.
>
>
>
> Michael Rosen, Cert. Arb., R.P.F.
>
> Former President, Tree Canada
>
>
>
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