Hubert E. Wallace

Hubert E. "Wally" Wallace, 87, of Topeka, passed away Thursday, December 10, 2009.

He was born October 14, 1922 on a farm about 30 miles outside Garden City, KS, the son of Arthur and Velma (Downs) Wallace. He was a graduate of Garden City High School. He served in the U.S. Navy during WW II as a gunnery instructor. After the war he apprenticed as a watchmaker in Manhattan, KS with his father-in-law, Richard Bradstreet. He became a journeyman watchmaker and owned his own store in Manhattan, KS, until 1958. His skills with small parts and his intuitive talent for mechanical devices led him into a new career beginning in the late 1950s as a technician for aerospace companies. He retired in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

He married Dyckie Bradstreet on January 30, 1943 in Dighton, KS. She preceded him in death on May 4, 2003, in Topeka, KS. Survivors include his son, Richard E. Wallace and his wife, Karen Baer, of Vashon, WA; his daughter, Susan A. Wales and her husband, Raymond of Topeka; three sisters, Mary Joseph of Garden City, KS, Rosalee Malaby of Glenwood Springs, CO, and Marie Kauffman of Garden City, KS; 6 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren. His sister-in-law, Lavonna Creviston, lives in Topeka.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m., Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at the Penwell-Gabel Mid-Town Chapel, 1321 SW 10th Ave., Topeka. Interment will follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Topeka. Mr. Wallace will lie in state after 3 p.m., Tuesday, at the funeral home where the family will receive friends from 5-6 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Marian Clinic in Topeka, KS. To leave a message for the family online, please visit www.PenwellGabelTopeka.com.