Beatrice B. Wallace

Beatrice Brooks Wallace was born on January 18, 1937, in Somerville, Tennessee, to the late Ed and Emma Jane Brooks. A loving daughter, cherished sister, beloved wife, devoted mother, adored grandmother, and loyal friend, she brought laughter, warmth, and comfort to everyone whose life she touched.

A native of Fayette County, she attended Fayette County Training Elementary and High Schools, where she excelled as an honor roll student every semester. She sang in the Glee Club Choir, narrated plays and pageants, and won the county’s first Spelling Bee. A lifelong member of Wesley Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Somerville, she served as Sunday School and church secretary, sang in the choir, and represented the church as a delegate to numerous district conferences.

After graduating high school, Beatrice pursued her dream of becoming a teacher, inspired by her second-grade teacher and her parents. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Mississippi Industrial College in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She began her teaching career in Como, Mississippi, later transferring to Stone Street Elementary School in Greenwood, where she met her husband, Rev. William Wallace, Sr. Together they organized and directed a Children’s Choir for ages four through eleven. In 1971, the family moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Beatrice taught at Hamilton and Barbe Elementary Schools in Calcasieu Parish for twenty-one years. She later earned a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Southern University and completed additional studies in Reading at McNeese State University. She retired from Barbe Elementary School.

Beatrice is survived by her husband of sixty-eight years, Elder William Wallace, Sr.; sons Dr. William (Meumona) Wallace, Jr. of Williamsburg, Virginia, and Karl (Leslie) Wallace of Spartanburg, South Carolina; daughter Tina (Andre) Lee of Anderson, South Carolina; granddaughters Natascha (Benjamin) Wallace and Adriane Wallace; grandsons Joseph (Erica) Wallace, Clayton Wallace, Jr., JaMario Wallace, Quentin (Jewel) Wallace, William B. Wallace, and George B. Wallace; eleven great-grandchildren; and sisters Ruby Jeffries of Kansas City, Kansas, and Ruth (Alfred) Patterson of Detroit, Michigan. She also leaves a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends. She was preceded in death by her sisters Vera Stitt, Wilola King, Clarice Roberts, Thelma Brooks, and Emma Sue Campbell; her brother James Brooks; and her sons David B. Wallace and Michael M. Wallace.