Jan. 25, 1921 – Sept. 15, 2013
Warren “Wally” L. Wallace, 92, of Creswell, formerly of Sweet Home, died Sept. 15, 2013 after suffering a stroke.
He was born Jan. 25, 1921 in Marshall, Texas to Eugene Blocker and Willie Alice (Perry) Wallace.
He spent his early years in East Texas and in Southern California, going to work at the Marshall Creamery at age 14. He joined the U.S. Army in 1937, serving at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas where he was on the post boxing team. This was during the Great Depression and he was very happy to have employment.
Mr. Wallace joined the U.S. Navy in 1940, becoming a hospital operating room technician. In 1941 World War II was escalating in Europe, and forces were needed to protect Iceland from a German invasion. He was asked to go with an Expeditionary Marine Corps unit as one of their Navy corpsmen because of his medical experience.
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the Fleet Marine Forces were called home to train for service in the South Pacific. He served as a corpsman with the Second Marine Division, “island hopping” through Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian with the invading forces. He was promoted to Navy chief in April 1945.
He earned several medals, including the Bronze Star with V for Valor and the Presidential Unit Citation.
After World War II, he served at the Navy Hospital in Guam. During the Korean War he served with the Marine Air Wing inKorea and in Japan.
Mr. Wallace was an accredited independent duty corpsman and served aboard small ships as the head of the Medical Department when no medical officer (doctor) was assigned. He retired from the Navy in 1957.
After a short time as a Sanitation Inspector in Polson, Mont., he returned to his previous position at the Naval Weapons Center in Corona, Calif. as a civilian.
He was a registered sanitarian and also a licensed pest control operator. He moved with his family to Sheridan, Wyo. in 1971 and worked at the V.A. Hospital there as the assistant chief of hospital management.
In 1973 he returned to California, where he became assistant chief of hospital management for the V.A. Hospital in Long Beach.
He retired from Civil Service in 1978, then pursued his interest in mechanics by studying Small Engine Repair and became a licensed Small Engine Repairman. He moved to Sweet Home in 1980, where he operated Wally’s Small Engine Repair from his home.
Mr. Wallace married Elizabeth Dillman Oberlin in 1952. Following her death, he married Ardyce Riddle Rice in 1985.
Wally was a lifetime member of the VFW, a member of the American Legion, a member of the Northwest Chapter of the Second Marine Division Association and a plank holder in the Navy Memorial as well as other military organizations. He is remembered by his family as a devoted father, an avid outdoorsman,and an accomplished fly fisherman.
He taught his children to be self-sufficient, often repairing cars and motorcycles and building go-carts. In later years he told many stories of his war experiences to friends and family and especially grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife Ardyce; son Doug and daughter-in-law Darcy Wallace of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law Ed Ellers of Haverford, Pa., son David Wallace of Alaska, son Ken and daughter-in-law Jan Rice of Salem, son Jim and daughter-in-law Trina Rice of Lowell, daughter Karla Burcham of Sweet Home, daughter Doreen and son-in-law David Chaput of Lebanon, son Jacob and daughter-in-law Stephanie Rice of Sweet Home, and daughter Ronda and son-in-law Greg Denver of Sweet Home; 18 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and a brother, Bill Wallace of San Bernardino, Calif.
He was preceded in death by his parents; first wife Elizabeth; sister Lucile Foster of California. and brother Dan Wallace of Illinois.
A service with military honors will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Sweet Home VFW Post 3437 Building Fund, P.O. Box 295, Sweet Home, OR. 97386. Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements.