Robert Louis Wallace

Bob was born on January 8, 1940, to Clyde and Bertha Wallace in Hill City, Kansas. He left home when he was 15 to pursue adventures in mining in the Dry Creek Basin, cowboying on the Uncompahgre Plateau and the Montrose area, hauling drilling rigs before answering the call to serve his country. He started his service in the Army Reserve for a year before transferring to active-duty service in the Marine Corps.

Sergeant Major Wallace proudly served in the Marine Corps for 29 years. He a spent a tour in Vietnam, February 1967 to March 1968, as a door gunner on a Sikorsky Search & Rescue helicopter. His career was spent in the aviation fields of the Marine Corps spending many years in senior leadership roles.

On August 1, 1962, he married the love of his life Sandra Frasier. Together they raised four children.

Following his retirement, he managed several mobile home parks in Montrose, Colorado, from 1991 to 2002. He loved woodworking where his scroll-saw work is admired in homes and businesses in many places across the country. Bob loved to travel and was an avid historian, spending countless hours studying early American history, especially western Colorado. Three of his favorite places to visit were Mocha Joes in Montrose, the Loretta Lynn Ranch, and the Hatfield & McCoys. Bob is survived by his devoted wife ¬of 64 years, Sandra Wallace; his children, Brian (Chandra) Wallace, Brent (Tonia) Wallace, Troy (Tammy) Wallace, Kimberley Lee, and close family friend Mike Condit; 16 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren with more to come. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clyde and Bertha Wallace, his brother Archie Wallace and sister Virginia Krom.

A memorial service with full military honors will be held in June at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery of Western Colorado to be announced later.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Bob’s Honor to the HopeWest Hospice Care of Grand Junction, Colorado.