Continuing The Conde Name
By Matthew Clifford
Conde Pallen in high school. Courtesy of Ancestry.
Conde Benoist Pallen
January 20, 1933 - July 2, 2017
Conde Benoist Pallen, born in 1933, was given big shoes to fill early in his life. He was named after his grandfather, also named Conde Benoist Pallen, who was a prolific Catholic writer in America with multiple published books and articles.[1] The younger Conde was born in New York to an immigrant mother, who had come to the US from Ireland, and married Thomas Pallen, the son of the older Conde. At the time of the younger’s birth, the older had unfortunately passed away, but it seems that out of respect for him, the younger Conde was given his name.
Growing up in New York, the younger Conde would end up attending a Catholic high school in the Bronx, called the All Hallows High School. During his time here, he would be the starting center for their football team and would also end up playing for their basketball team.[2] He would also end up being an honor student for all four years. This distinction earned him admission to Manhattan University,[3] a private Catholic university in New York. Following his time in university, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree and married Patricia Brundage,[4] Conde would join the US Army, entering as a Specialist 3. This rank was generally an enlisted rank, and according to the US military, it would be available for anybody with a bachelor’s degree to obtain without any further work.[5] It seems that he just barely missed fighting during the Korean War, as an armistice was reached in 1953. However, he would have still been serving during an extremely tense time in the world, with the Korean War still threatening to break out again and tensions slowly rising in Vietnam. After serving two years, Conde Pallen would be discharged from the military. He and Patricia would have four children: Victoria, Susan, Cynthia, and Thomas Pallen, with Thomas being named after Conde’s father, Thomas Pallen.[6]
Conde would then move to Colorado, taking a position with Johns Manville, a company in Denver that focuses on producing insulation, roofing, and other engineered products.[7] He would finish his career as a financial advisor with Wealth Strategies, another local business in the Denver area. In Denver, Conde would continue to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, becoming a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic service group. There are four principles that the Knights are built on: charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism. When a member has remained in good standing and undergone their “exemplifications” for each principle, they can become a Fourth Degree Knight, the highest rank.[8] Both the older Conde and the younger would become Fourth Degree Knights in their lifetime, with the elder Conde being well-renowned enough to be one of their nationwide speakers during a Knights of Columbus event.[9] While the younger one may not have gotten international recognition, as the older Conde received from Pope Leo XIII in the form of the pro ecclesia et pontifice,[10] a medal given to recognize servants of the Catholic Church, the younger Conde found ways to make local differences through his local Rotary Club and Knights of Columbus chapter.[11] The Conde Benoist Pallen name was honored by the younger through the numerous ways he helped build up his community; it may not have been grandiose, but it was his way.
Footnotes ↓
[1] “Pallen, Condé Benoist.” n.d. Encyclopedia.Com. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/pallen-conde-benoist.
[2] “U.S, School Yearbooks, 1900-2016.” 1950. Ancestry. 1950. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/1265/records/299037000.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018.” 1954. Ancestry. 1954. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/61406/records/2918304.
[5] “U.S. Army Ranks.” n.d. U.S. Army. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.army.mil/ranks/.
[6] “Conde B. Pallen Obituary.” 2017. Ellis Family Services. July 2017. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.ellisfamilyservices.com/obituaries/Conde-B-Pallen?obId=1989509.
[7] “Johns Manville - a Berkshire Hathaway Company.” n.d. Johns Manville. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.jm.com/.
[8] “Degrees of Knighthood.” 2020. Knights of Columbus - St. Luke the Evangelist Council 12455. December 17, 2020. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.kofc12455.com/degrees-of-knighthood/.
[9] “Denver Catholic Register December 21, 1916 - Page 1.” 1916. Denver Catholic Register. December 21, 1916. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://cdm17478.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17478coll1/id/51561/.
[10] “Pallen, Conde Benoist.”
[11] “Conde B. Pallen Obituary.”
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