Who Was Tim Allen’s Father? 5 Insights About His Late Dad

Home Improvement and Shifting Gears star Tim Allen faced an unimaginable tragedy at the age of 11 when his father, Gerald M. Dick, lost his life in a devastating car accident.

“My father was killed by a drunk driver when I was 11 years old. Thankfully, he was the only one who passed away,” Allen shared during an appearance on “The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe” in April 2025. “He died in my mother’s lap. All of the other kids [in our car] were tossed around. My two older brothers were injured … I remember walking back to my house sensing something tragic had happened, though I wasn’t at fault, and praying and crying.”

The loss of Allen’s father resonates deeply, especially since the comedian is often dubbed “America’s Dad” for his beloved sitcom roles in Home Improvement, Last Man Standing, and Shifting Gears.

In 2025, after 61 years of mourning, Allen announced that he had forgiven the drunk driver who caused his father’s death, inspired by Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk (née Frantzve), who publicly forgave the alleged killer of her husband.

Continue reading for more insights into the tragic loss of Allen’s father.

1. Tim Allen’s Father Gerald Dick Raised Their Family in Colorado

The future Home Improvement star was the third oldest of six children of community service advocate Martha Katherine and real estate agent Dick. While Allen (given name Timothy Alan Dick) is often associated with Michigan due to his teenage years and attendance at Western Michigan University, he was actually born and raised in Denver, Colorado.

2. Gerald Dick Was Killed in a November 1964 Car Crash

At just 11 years old, Allen lost his father in a drunk driving incident. In a 2006 interview on Inside the Actors Studio, he noted he was meant to be with his father that fateful night.

“I typically would have been with [my dad],” he recounted. “On this particular day, I went to the neighbor’s [home].”

Allen described a family outing where his father had taken six kids and his mother to a Colorado football game.

“While heading home in the afternoon, a driver swerved across I-70,” Allen explained, sharing how his father “sustained a broken neck and died in my mom’s lap, right there.”

(Martha, Allen’s mother, remarried her high school sweetheart two years later and relocated her children to Birmingham, Michigan, blending their families.)

3. Tim Allen Barely Had a Chance to Grieve His Dad

Reflecting on Inside the Actors Studio in 2006, Allen mentioned he had an eerie sense of foreboding regarding his father’s death even before learning about the tragic accident.

“If you’ve never experienced a death in your family, it alters everything … even your cellular structure changes,” he stated. “Every aspect of my life transformed. I knew the moment he was gone, and it was not for another four hours that I found out.”

Allen shared that he had little opportunity to process his grief, as an uncle pressured him “to man up” and cease crying mere moments after he received the news.

“He was the best dad, the love of my life,” Allen said during “The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe” in April 2025. “Everyone’s reply was, ‘He’s in a better place.’ My instinctive reaction was, ‘Then why are we in this mess?’ It was never answered. … The pain persisted, the discomfort lingered. For many years, I was indifferent to life. That period drove me to seek answers, yet I generally found none.”

4. Gerald Dick’s Death Deeply Shook Tim Allen’s Faith

In a 2011 interview on 20/20, Allen revealed that his faith was profoundly tested by the sudden loss of his father at such a tender age. The Toy Story actor remarked that his “peculiar relationship with God” revolved around questions of whether persistent prayer could have saved his father.

“For years, I rejected the notion of God, church,” he admitted. “[I was] still attending church, but always a skeptic.”

Allen clarified that his perspective on religion has evolved, as he felt that “the complexity of existence couldn’t possibly be an accident.”

“It didn’t occur by chance,” he asserted.

5. Tim Allen Forgave the Drunk Driver More Than 60 Years Later

After the shooting death of political figure Kirk in September 2025, Allen publicly praised the widow’s poignant words. Erika forgave the 22-year-old suspect, Tyler Robinson, during her eulogy at a public memorial on September 21.

“I forgive him because that’s what Christ would do. The answer to hatred is not more hate,” Erika expressed to the mourners.

Allen took to X on September 25 to convey how Erika’s forgiveness resonated with his own emotional turmoil endured for more than six decades.

“When Erika Kirk uttered those words about the man who took her husband’s life: ‘That young man… I forgive him.’ That moment profoundly impacted me,” the Shifting Gears actor shared. “For over 60 years, I have struggled to forgive the man who killed my Dad. As I type these words now: ‘I forgive the man who caused my father’s death.’ May peace be granted to you all.”