Kenneth Reid Wallace

Kenneth Reid Wallace was born on February 22, 1923, and died on June 23, 2016, at the age of 93. He was born in the small town of Standardville in Carbon County, Utah. He was the third of five children born to Elmer Bernard and Esther Anne Wallace.
Ken always had fond memories of growing up in the mining community of Standardville (near Helper) where he, his brother, and his childhood friends enjoyed exploring the surrounding countryside. For someone like Ken, who felt more at home out of doors than in, it must have been an ideal childhood.
At a young age, the family moved to Salt Lake City, where Ken attended West High School. After graduation, he enlisted in the military and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. As part of the 42nd Infantry Division, he arrived in England in December of 1944. From there, they relieved troops in Belgium in January of 1945 and then went on the attack that February, where Ken was a machine gunner. They advanced through Germany and crossed the Rhine River in late March. He became part of the occupation in Germany and eventually Austria. In his later years, he would describe in unadorned language his reaction to liberating the Dachau concentration camp. The fighting and sacrifice he made as a machine gunner can hardly be imagined.
After his military service was completed, he returned to Salt Lake City, met Phyllis Pedersen, married, and began his own family of five children. He worked for several years at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington as a millwright, and then later moved the family to California. He retired at the age of 73 after a career in the aerospace defense industry.
Ken was a hard-working man with a funny sense of humor. He delighted in good-humored teasing of his kids when they were young. He loved his wife’s good cooking and had a hearty appetite almost to his dying day yet he remained fit and trim most of his life. He loved the outdoors, his family, his cats, and the small, family joys that matter so much. He had a good heart, a kind heart even, despite his cantankerousness, and was much loved by his children. God speed.
Ken was preceded in death by his father, Elmer Bernard Wallace, his mother Esther Anne Wallace, his brother Wayne Wallace, and sisters Elaine Robinson, LaRue (Pat) Thomas, and Donna Hatch. Services will be held at the Mountain View Memorial Mortuary and Cemetery in Salt Lake City (Cottonwood Heights) on Thursday, June 30, 2016, at 11:00 am. He is survived by his wife, Phyllis Wallace, and children, Dallas, Melba, Linda, Cara, and Kenneth.
Service Information

Funeral Service
June 30, 2016 at 11:00 AM
Memorial Mountain View Mortuary, 3115 East 7800 South, Cottonwood Heights, UT