Businessman, racing and boating enthusiast Allen Fine dies

Allen B. Fine was a man in motion -- except when he was fishing.

When he wasn't in the industrial surroundings of Virginia Bearings and Supply Co. as its president, he raced cars and sailboats, flew small planes and searched for thermals in sailplanes, enjoyed skiing and played tennis as often as five times a week.

He was a co-founder of the Virginia Motor Sports Club and served as president for a year. He was a Porsche man, though he collected other classic race cars, including Alfa Romeo and Lotus, said his daughter, Allyn Fine Linas of Goochland County.

Mr. Fine was a member of Fishing Bay Yacht Club in Deltaville, serving as commodore in 1980. The club's Allen B. Fine trophy is awarded to the outstanding crewman of a member yacht.

"When he was less active, he still enjoyed a vicarious thrill with what the rest of us were doing," his daughter said. His five grandchildren also enjoy many of the same hobbies, the family said.

Mr. Fine died Sunday at his Richmond home. He was 83.

A memorial service will be held today, Thursday, at 11 a.m. at Bliley Funeral Homes' Central Chapel, 3801 Augusta Ave. Burial will be private.

Mr. Fine was graced with the improbable nickname "Sleepy" by fraternity brothers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned a degree in industrial management. He and Isabel Truslow, a student at Agnes Scott College, met, were married and moved to Richmond in 1951. He worked with his father-in-law at Richmond Auto Parts until the company was reorganized in 1963 and then took over the Virginia Bearings and Supply division.

He retired nine years ago, and he and his wife enjoyed their cottage on the Piankatank River near Deltaville, his daughter said. They would have been married 58 years in June, she said.

Born in Gary, W.Va., in 1926, Mr. Fine grew up in Norfolk. During World War II, he was a crewman on Army recovery boats in Brownsville, Texas, that picked up military pilots who crashed into the Gulf of Mexico or nearby waterways. He said the waiting time allowed some of the best fishing he ever did, his daughter said.

In 1966, when he was a member of the Bryce Mountain Ski Patrol, he suffered a bad fall and a broken leg. Other members of the ski patrol took the patrol insignia off his clothes before anyone else could see, his daughter said.

"He might have had a gruff exterior, but he was a teddy bear inside," she said.

In addition to his wife, daughter and grandchildren, survivors include two great-grandchildren.