Solveig Allgower

The Allgower family is heartbroken to announce the passing of our beloved Solveig (Sue), who passed away peacefully in Ft. Collins while convalescing from a short hospital stay. Sue was born in Brooklyn, NY, to parents Bergjliot Bengtson and Aage Odland, both originally from Norway.

Sue grew up in Brooklyn, graduating from Bay Ridge High School in 1954. She had an abiding interest in art and leaves behind a lifetime of paintings and sketches, some of which date from her high school years. Her father was a seaman who spent much of his life abroad, so shortly after Sue's graduation, she and her mother moved to Chicago to be near her sister, Ingrid, who had moved there and begun a family with Erling Flo. Sue worked as a secretary for several employers in New York and Chicago. One day at an ice cream parlor after a community basketball game, Sue sat next to the center player, a man named Eugene, a mathematics student at Illinois Institute of Technology. It was love at first sight for both and they were married in 1958.

Eugene had a long career as a mathematics professor, always lovingly supported by Sue. Their son, Chris, was born in 1965, and after brief stays in California and Arizona, they settled in 1968 in Fort Collins, CO, where Eugene joined the mathematics department at Colorado State University, retiring in 2005. The family frequently traveled and spent sabbaticals in Switzerland, West Germany, East Germany, France, and Berkeley, enjoying a rich life of cultural experiences and extended family connections, and hosting countless international visitors over the decades. Sue was always the center of the family, organizing their extended trips, cooking gourmet meals, and creating a warm and loving home. Sue continued to take art classes throughout her lifetime and graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts from CSU in 1987.

Our family cherishes in deep gratitude the loving memory of Sue. Surviving family members include Eugene; son, Chris Allgower and daughter-in-law, Karen Newman of Bloomington, IN; sister- and brother-in-law, Linda and Charlie Gall of Polo, IL; Ingrid's children, John (Maureen Kelleher), Ellen, and Linda Flo (David Pattison) of Chicago, IL; and grandnieces and grandnephews, Daniel Formentin, Andrew and Caroline Pattison, and Meredith and Brynn Carrol; and numerous extended family members in the US, Germany and Norway. Sue was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved brother Bjarne Odland, his wife Dolores, and their son, Greg, of St. Paul, MN; her sister, Ingrid; and niece, Karen Carroll.

A memorial service is planned for April 2026 in the Chicago area.