TUXEDO – Louis Allen was an earth science teacher at George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo, but he was more than that.

The Chester native, who lived at the time of his death on June 8, 2005 in Milford, PA, was also a father of four little boys and a first lieutenant in the New York Army National Guard when he and another soldier, Capt. Philip Esposito of Rockland County were killed by an explosive device while in Tikrit, Iraq.

On Friday night, artist Philip Taylor and his wife, Lisa, of the American Fallen Soldiers Project, unveiled a portrait Taylor created.

Barbara and her sons admire the portrait lf Louis

Allen’s widow, Barbara, said her late husband was her inspiration.

“He was the man I believed in. He was the first man who ever believed in me and he was so convincing that I believed him and began to believe in myself,” she told friends and family, who attended the touching ceremony.

Taylor said that his portraits of American Fallen Soldier are “humbling and inspiring.”

Lou’s father, Robert Allen, said Taylor’s work “really nailed” the essence of his son.