Traverse City, Michigan - Allen Horstman, 82, of Traverse City, Michigan, passed away on January 28, 2026.

Allen was born on August 1, 1943 to Eudora (Allen) Horstman and Albert Horstman in Seymour, Indiana. He grew up in the nearby farming community of Brownstown, where Eudora was a schoolteacher and homemaker and where Albert farmed and was a county clerk. An only child, Allen excelled in academics and athletics, playing on the baseball and basketball teams. After receiving his BS in chemical engineering from Purdue University, Allen decided to change course and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he earned a law degree from Harvard University. It was in Cambridge where he met Nancy Crocker, a schoolteacher with whom he fell in love. They married on August 3, 1968. Nan and Allen Horstman, whose happy marriage spanned the next six decades, returned to Indiana, where Allen practiced tax law for several years in Indianapolis. Realizing that law wasn't the final stop in his formal education, he enrolled in a PhD program in History at the University of California Berkeley. The couple lived in the Bay Area until he finished his degree, moving to Albion, Michigan in 1977, where Allen accepted a position as Professor of History at Albion College, a job he loved and which he held until retiring in 2005. He frequently remarked that "If work is what you do when you'd rather do something else, I don't work very much." Known for a teaching style that brought history to life, he was a favorite professor of generations of Albion students, famous for wearing a bowtie. Having spent their summers on Long Lake since 1980, Nan and Allen moved there fulltime in 2005. His family is grateful for the care he received at Bay Ridge Assisted Living in Traverse City, where he resided beginning in 2024.

Allen loved and was proud of his family. He loved reading, researching, writing, and teaching. He published numerous articles on aspects of the history of Europe and of Christianity, and two books - Victorian Divorce and Christianity: A Guide for the Thoughtful (Skeptic or Believer). A lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, he enjoyed spending summer evenings in northern Michigan listening to games on staticky AM radio.

Allen was an active member of Traverse City's Central United Methodist Church, where he continued his teaching, served on various committees, participated as liturgist, and was known for his deep knowledge and humor.

Allen Horstman is remembered as an intelligent, caring, funny, and supportive husband, father, teacher, friend, and citizen. He is survived by his wife Nan, his sons Matt and Fritz Horstman, Matt's wife Emily Langerak, their daughter Eloise Horstman, and Fritz's wife Meredith Andrews.

A memorial service for Allen will take place at a later date in spring, at Central United Methodist Church.

Memorial contributions may be made to:

Central United Methodist Church, Traverse City, Michigan: www.tccentralumc.org

Albion College History Department, Albion, Michigan : www.albion.edu