Obituary of Allyn M. Hamilton

The family of Allyn M. Hamilton sadly announce his passing on Friday, April 23, 202l. Allyn, affectionately known as The Kid or Wap-Wap by his friends from the Lookout Mountain Golf Club, was born in Montreal on October 11, 1940 before moving to Chattanooga as a boy. The Hamilton's first lived on Missionary Ridge, but soon moved to Lookout Mountain, where Allyn resided for the rest of his life. He loved to tell the story of one of his earliest culture shocks when his mother, Myra, insisted he and his brothers and sister arrive dressed properly for their first day of school, which for an eight-year-old Montrealer was wool shorts, an oxford shirt, and knee-high socks. Allyn was the son of William and Myra McNeil Hamilton, both originally from Scotland, but having grown up in Montreal. He is a graduate of the McCallie School and The University of Georgia. After Georgia, he accepted a job at Honeywell in Boston, where he worked with large insurance companies and banks, helping them program and implement massive mainframes that would be the start of the modern server era. One of his favorite stories around this time was when he had to break a large window in a downtown Boston building because the room was getting too hot for the massive (and expensive) mainframe he was configuring. Although he always had a soft spot for Boston, he returned home and worked in Dalton in yarn sales where his personality was allowed to shine, his last employer being Texture-Tex, a career that had him traveling regularly to Ecuador, Montreal, and Chicago, among other places, making many friends along the way. His closest friends, of all generations, gathered at the Lookout Mountain Golf Club. It was there at the Swing Ding, the Club’s annual golf tournament, where he had one of his greatest moments. He and his partner, T.A. Lupton, were seeded in a lower flight, but through some good playing, and definitely some luck, made it to the Championship round and even to a sudden-death playoff where they eventually lost, but not before having won over the entire gallery. Allyn was a parishioner of the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lookout Mountain, where he was often an usher for the early service in the 1980s and ‘90s. Allyn is survived by his wife Marla, their son Andrew, his daughter Sara, his siblings Ian (Lansing), Ross (Jeanne), Deirdre (Jim), as well as many nieces and nephews. The private burial will be held at Harriet Caldwell Memorial Garden at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lookout Mountain. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes any donations be made to The Church of the Good Shepherd or Hospice of Chattanooga. Arrangements are by Wann Funeral & Cremation Center. (423) 821-7551 Please share your memories, stories and photos at www.wannfuneralhome.com.