Allen Laddie Machart

Allen Laddie Machart, 79, a longtime resident of the Woodlands and more recently of Conroe, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on Thursday, January 25th, 2024. Born in El Campo, Texas, on May 7, 1944, to the late Raymond John and Hilda Mary (Derrich) Machart, Allen grew up working and playing alongside his seven surviving siblings on farmland in Wharton County. He graduated from El Campo High School in 1962.

As a young man, Allen relocated to Houston, where he worked for a time with his older brother at Borden’s Ice Cream and earned an associate degree from the University of Houston. On November 5, 1966, he married Bobbie Gay Swain at St. Anne Catholic Church in Houston. Together, in 57 years of marriage, they lived in Houston, West University Place, The Woodlands, and eventually Conroe. Raising four children together, they were engaged members of the community and among the founding parishioners of Saints Simon and Jude Catholic Parish in The Woodlands, where they served together for many years as Eucharistic Ministers.

Shortly after marrying, Allen joined the United States Postal Service, where he would spend 35 years as a Letter Carrier until he retired in 2002. A long-standing and vocal advocate of organized labor, he was a lifetime member of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 282, for which he served both as Shop Steward for four years and, on numerous occasions, as a delegate at the NALC national convention.

While forever a dedicated worker, Allen most prized his time at home with his family. An avid gardener, Allen tended his vegetable patch along with the perennials and trees on his property with enthusiasm and humility, and his outgoing disposition often saw him in friendly conversation with passersby who stopped to comment on his various plantings. When he was not outdoors, Allen sought laughter and playful competition in card games and board games with his siblings, children, and grandchildren.

Allen was a voracious reader of fiction and nonfiction alike, and he was a lifelong student of history and geography. Many of his most joyful adventures came through travel with his wife, Bobbie. Together they visited Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Greece, Turkey, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, among countless destinations in the contiguous states.

Allen was fun-loving and generously so—he loved to laugh, but he especially relished sharing in the laughter of others. He was a loving and compassionate friend, husband, father, and grandfather, and the lives of those he loved have been forever brightened by it. In the words of the poet Barry Lopez, Allen made his life in this world “a worthy expression of leaning into the light.”

He is survived by his wife Bobbie Gay (Swain) Machart, by their four children—Christopher Allen Machart and wife Jenna of Dallas; Bruce Dalton Machart and wife Marya of South Hamilton, MA; Donna Elizabeth (Machart) Fontenot and husband Corey of Pflugerville, Texas; and Nathan Paul Machart and wife Julie of Conroe. He is likewise survived by his beloved grandchildren—Dalton Machart of Houston; Evan Place of Somerville, MA, and Jillian Place of East Boston, MA; Struan and Liam Machart of Dallas; Isaac and Cora Fontenot of Pflugerville; and Gloria, Emma, Graham, and Warren Machart of Conroe. He is also survived by his siblings—Evelyn Schaefer of Hallettsville, Melvin Machart and wife Charlene of Coldspring, Norma Wasek of El Campo, Ann Arnold and husband Jim McDonald of El Campo, Marilyn Lutringer of Houston, and Sharon Johnston and husband Billy of Brenham.

Allen is preceded in death by his parents and by his sisters, Leona Machart and Dorothy Gleason.


There are two Live Stream links -- one for Facebook and one for YouTube. You can use either one to access the Live Stream. You can also view the funeral any time after the funeral as well.

https://www.youtube.com/ssjwoodlands
https://www.facebook.com/ssjwoodlands/


In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to Allen’s favorite cause:

St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
501 St. Jude Place
Memphis, TN 38105