David Wallace

David Eugene Wallace, 65, returned to his heavenly father to join his beloved mother, his father, and his daughter Joan on December 12, 2015. His family courageously said their goodbyes and surrounded him with love while his spirit parted from the physical pain and a debilitating lung disease that had plagued his mortal body for several years.
He was born March 18, 1950 to Claude Eugene and Elma Harvey Wallace. His family moved several times while he was young before finally settling in Tridell, Utah where he would meet and marry his childhood sweetheart, Edna Mae Mckee, on November 23, 1968. David was a very proud and honest man who worked hard every day of his life despite any physical limitations he might incur. He devoted 43 years of his life to the phosphate mine near Vernal, Utah which was an hour commute each direction from his home. He would often leave in the middle of the night and would work any shift required to ensure the success and continued operation of the plant.
David was never afraid of hard work and he wanted his children to learn skills that could carry them through life and provide an adequate income for their families. He taught them to be independent thinkers, always stand up for what they believed in and to always be financially independent. He instilled a quest for success through hard work and the value of a good education. He would proudly boast of raising 3 daughters who became Registered Nurses, and 2 sons, a plumber and a roofer several of whom started and ran their own successful businesses. He attributed this to the decision he made when his children were young to keep them busy by starting and running a dairy farm while he maintained a full time job and served as a bishop.
He strongly believed in the family unit and no one was exempt from the daily chores His children worked side by side with him and he made sure that every one of them, girls included, could drive a tractor, milk the cows, plant a garden, and pull a trailer full of cattle to the sale barn in the middle of a snow storm on Saturday. Although his many responsibilities required that he work 7 days a week he always took the time to visit the elderly, and greatly cherished spending time hearing about the good old days. He later compiled this information to write and publish a history book about Tridell so that he could pass that information on to future generations. He loved his community and taught his children to serve others through his good example by serving in many church positions, always most proud of being a home teacher, who would ensure those families he had been assigned could always count on him. At Christmas, he would teach his children the gift of giving of one's talents and skills by involving the whole family in late night sessions making wooden toys in the garage that would be secretly delivered to a family in need.
Although he worked from dawn til dusk he would still find the time to load everyone up and take them to Salt Lake to stay with "Doug and Donna" for a day at Lagoon with the cousins. He did not care to see the world, but rather enjoyed the adventures and memories he would create riding horses through the mountains, hunting for an hour or 2 almost every day, except Sunday, with family, friends, friends of friends and family of friends every October. The more people he could include in the hunt and the more successful the hunt; the more joy it would bring him. He loved people and he loved any activity where he could incorporate just a little bit of reckless living that would invoke a moment of sheer panic in others. He was a thrill seeking daredevil who would make a community event out of a motor cycle ride, spend weeks making an obstacle course around the 10 acres of land he so proudly owned and then hosting timed competitions where his friends and family would race their dirt bikes across log bridges, around chicken coops, over manmade jumps where the unlucky soul who didn't make it would land in a small mountain of red ants, steep hill climbs conquering unstable rocky ledges, and narrow winding paths. Encouraging his sons to get on his motorcycle when they were so small that they that dared not wreck because it would require someone to walk to the top and retrieve them. Driving his razor through a creek as fast as he could soaking all of his grandchildren. Sitting astride your chest while doing the typewriter torture or dangling a worm above your face. Digging himself out of a snow bank after he had been catapulted from his snowmobile in the High Uintah Mountains, doing donuts on the ice with a tractor, and using his snowmobile to pull a couple of inner tubes (filled with as many of his family members as he could convince, including his wife) through a field of snow at high speed while trying to fling them all in different directions.
His constant teasing, the ridiculous nick names he gave everyone he loved, the man at the head of the table, the keeper and controller of the remote, the only person allowed to sit in "his" chair, and his desire to always make the final decision will be greatly missed by his wife Edna, his children Joleen (Terrell) Huber, Kaysville; son- in-law, Norman Swartz, Aaron (Karen) Wallace, West Valley; Jarod (Kim) Wallace, Orem; Nadine (Corey) Sillito, Kaysville; Dawna (Becca) Wallace, Herriman; siblings, Diana (Gene) Williams, Patsy (Ron) Stump, Ron (Pam) Wallace, Annette (Cory) Harris, Jeannie O'Driscoll, Becky Wallace, and Orlan (Kirsten) Wallace, 24 grandchildren (the pride and joy of his life and what he considered to be his legacy), 10 great grandchildren, many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and hundreds of very close cousins. He was preceded in death by his mother, father, daughter Joan, brothers-in-law, Tim Holt and Kelly O'Driscoll and lifelong friends Warren McKenna and Keith Haslem.
A formal tribute to celebrate the life and many memories of this great man will be held on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. within the Tridell LDS Chapel. Friends and family may visit and pay their respects at the Hullinger Mortuary on Friday, December 18th from 6 to 8 p.m. and on Saturday, December 19th from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the church. His body will be laid to rest within the Tridell Cemetery until it is resurrected and reunited with his spirit at the Second Coming of Christ.