David R. Wallis, a longtime executive at PPG Industries and a devoted father and husband, died on August 23, at NCH Baker Hospital in Naples, Florida. He was 75. His wife of 54 years, Ann Wallis, was at his side.
Born on November 10, 1944, in Oklahoma City, Dave was the son of Lois and Richard “Red” Wallis. The youngest of three children, he had two sisters: Martha, who died in 2002, and Marianelle, who lives in Colorado with her husband, Bob Jordan.
Dave graduated from Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City, where he was an honor student and lettered in basketball and baseball. It’s also where he met his lifelong love, Ann, two years his junior.
Dave studied chemical engineering at Cornell University, and after graduating in 1966 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, taking a sales job with the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, later renamed PPG Industries. He and Ann were married that same summer, and a couple of years later their first child, Todd, was born.
In 1969 Dave was promoted and transferred to PPG’s headquarters in Pittsburgh. While living in the township of Mount Lebanon, Ann and Dave had two more children: Stephen, born in 1970, and Beth, born two years later.
They moved to nearby Upper St. Clair in 1975, into a newly built house that would serve as the family home for nearly three decades. Dave was a dedicated father, volunteering his time to coach the kids’ sports teams and rarely missing a game. He was also an avid golfer, a passion that continued after he retired from PPG as vice president, corporate development, capping a 33-year career with the company.
In 2003, Ann and Dave moved to Marco Island, Florida, where Dave devoted himself to playing golf, fishing, reading and doing crosswords by the pool, and watching sports on the TV, preferably with one of his beloved dogs by his side. Due to complications from type 2 diabetes, Dave’s health had been declining for a number of years—a situation he faced with optimism and resolve. He spent his last day at home with Ann, fittingly, watching golf.
In addition to his wife, Ann, and his sister Marianelle, Dave is survived by: Todd and Erica Wallis and their children, Matthew and Abby; Stephen Wallis and Alexandra Rowley and their son, Elliott; and Beth and Bryan Quevli and their daughters, Zoe and Anna.
Dave will be laid to rest in Marco Island, following a private ceremony at the Hodges-Josberger Funeral Home.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent in Dave’s name to the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida or another food bank or animal shelter near you.
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