Allen was born in Oklahoma City to the late Mary Gill Boone and Allen W. Counts Sr.  At a young age, Allen moved to Muskogee where he joined Bebee Memorial CME Church.  He was raised in large part by his dear aunt, Mattye Boone Moore.  His mother was a devoted public school teacher and impressed on Allen the transformative power and vital importance of education.  Taking those lessons to heart, Allen graduated from historic Manual Training High School in 1961 as president of his class.

Allen attended Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, DC, where he pledged Alpha Phi Alpha and earned his Bachelor of Science in 1966.  He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1970 from Howard University School of Law and his Master of Business Administration in 1972 from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

While attending Howard University, Allen worked in the United States House of Representatives for Congressman Ed Edmondson.  Congressman Edmondson was instrumental in Allen's decision to go to law school and then on to business school.

Following his graduation from The Wharton School, Allen worked at Citibank, first in New York, and then in Hong Kong.  During the seven years he worked in Hong Kong, he was personally responsible for approving each vessel financing and for developing and implementing the bank's vessel financing strategy in the Asia Pacific region.  It was also in Hong Kong that Allen met his second wife, Judi, who is the mother of his daughter, Lindsey.

In New York, Allen co-founded Pryor, Counts & Co., which was once the largest African-American owned and controlled investment-banking firms in the United States.  Pryor, Counts & Co. was a pioneer and made history in the public finance sector by being the senior book-running manager for some of the largest underwriting projects undertaken by a minority owned firm.  The firm grew to have more than 50 employees and 10 offices in the United States, and affiliates in three countries in Africa.

Later in life, Allen returned to his hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he practiced law.  A deep believer in the importance of community, Allen served on the Muskogee Development Corporation; as a board member at the Muskogee Public Library; as legal advisor to the Muskogee Chapter NAACP Executive Committee; as Fiscal Agent for Project Safe Neighborhoods at Neighbors Building Neighborhoods; and as part of a five member selection committee for Project Safe Neighborhoods Grants through the United States District Attorney's office (Eastern District of Oklahoma). He was a lifetime member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and a member of Sigma Pi Phi – Epsilon Iota Chapter.

He is survived by his daughter Lindsey who will forever be grateful for his love and guidance, by his ex-wife, Judi, and by friends around the world.

A Memorial  and Omega Service is scheduled Saturday, November 10, 2018, 2:00 p.m., Beebe Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, 700 S. Seventh Street, Muskogee, OK.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Howard University's School of Law Annual Fund in memory of Allen Counts.  Donations can be made online ( www.howard.edu/give ) or by direct mail to the address below.  Donors should indicate that their donations are in memory of Allen Counts.

Howard University

P.O. Box 417853

Boston, MA 02241-7853

The family has been cared for by House of Winn Funeral Homes.