Patricia R. Wallace walked on from this life August 31, 2021, with her family beside her. Born December 10, 1949, in Haywood County, Waynesville, N.C., she was the daughter of the late Paul Howell and Esther Glass Reeves. Like most people her age, she had very little growing up but had fond memories of visiting her Granny and Poppy in the Cove Creek community, walking to the library in town (reading was a lifelong passion) and traveling to see her mother’s family in Alabama.
She attended Haywood County Schools and graduated from Tuscola High School. On September 20, 1979, Pat married Larry Wallace, relocated to southern Iredell County and together they spent the next 42 years laughing, loving and working hard to care for their family. Though she spent more than half of her time earthside making a life in the N.C. Piedmont, her heart was always in the beautiful mountains of her childhood.
Laughter and finding joy in small miraculous things was at the center of the life Pat created for herself and her family. She loved to prepare and cook a great meal (which should always include a homemade poundcake whenever possible), especially on holidays. She was an avid reader, enjoying all types of literature, with mysteries and classic murder and horror stories being among her favorites. She was always up for a game of Rook and, even when sick from her brief battle with cancer, she ruthlessly maintained her winning streak in Words with Friends games against her daughter Kelli and son-in-law, Brent. The unique, different and even the misunderstood held a special place in her heart. This was most truly expressed through her great love over many years for her numerous rescue pups. She believed in the magic of everyday people and events and a life simply lived and shared this magic with her closest friends and especially with her daughter, Kelli, and great granddaughter, Reese.
She was a long-time employee in Human Resources with Bernhardt Furniture Industries in Statesville, until its closing, and she retired from Ligon/State Electric Supply Company.
In addition to her husband, those who lost so much in her passing but gained much more from her living include her brother Robert Reeves, daughter Kelli Sutton (Brent McCoy), all of Waynesville, her daughter Sabrina Baity (James) of Statesville and son Scott Wallace of Mooresville, six grandchildren and six great grandchildren. In addition to her parents, gone on before her were her beloved sister Sue (Lois) Burke and brother Danny Reeves.
“Be the things you loved most about the people who are gone from you.”
A drop-in gathering of friends and family to celebrate her life will take place Saturday, October 16, 2021, from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m at the residence. Out of respect for everyone, the family requests that masks be worn by each attendee and that social distancing be observed.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, any donations in her honor be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Iredell County, Iredell County Animal Services and Control Department or to OCEARCH at https://www.ocearch.org/about/
Fond memories and condolences may be left at www.nicholsonfunerals.com.
Nicholson Funeral Home is serving the Wallace family.