Nebraska Appleseed mourns the passing of our longtime friend Allen Overcash, a former board member and president of Nebraska Appleseed’s Board of Directors.
Allen, a Harvard Law graduate and an attorney at Woods & Aitken in Lincoln, was a successful attorney and litigator focusing on construction and government contracts. Allen was an attorney who believed in the importance of committing one’s legal skills and expertise to serving the public interest. Allen also served as an adjunct professor of Construction Law and Practice at the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Allen played a critical role in Nebraska Appleseed’s development over the years. He joined our board of directors in 1999, just a few years after our organization’s founding. Our organization was a lot smaller then — just a small handful of individuals and mostly attorneys.
Allen used his extensive litigation skills to advise and mentor Nebraska Appleseed’s attorneys. Notably, Allen co-counseled with Nebraska Appleseed on a major class action Medicaid case that restored $18 million in Medicaid benefits to 10,000 low-income Nebraskans.
From 2006 to 2008, Allen served as Nebraska Appleseed’s Board President. During that time, Allen oversaw the transition from our founding executive director Milo Mumgaard to my tenure in the role, providing guidance and support to ensure and strengthen Nebraska Appleseed’s longevity. He started the first Appleseed Advisory Board and helped expand the Board to include non-lawyers and people with direct experience with Appleseed’s work.
But most importantly, Allen was a good friend to so many of us at Appleseed. He was a quick study, kind-hearted, and very generous in his support of people and Appleseed. He would kindly share his homegrown honey with Appleseed’s staff each fall.
The fight for civil rights and social justice lost one of the great ones. But Allen’s legacy lives on in our work at Nebraska Appleseed and the many people he taught and mentored in the legal profession.