James Wallace,Jr.

Jimmy, the oldest of three children, was born in Charleston, Mississippi on June 13, 1959 to Silvia and Ervis Wallace. Jimmy’s brother, Robert Allen Wallace (Bobby), lives in Cleveland, Mississippi, and his sister, Lee Ann McDonald (Doug), lives in Evening Shade, Arkansas. Jimmy graduated from Strider Academy in Charleston, Mississippi, where he was President of the Science Club and voted “Most Likely to Succeed.” He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering on Mother’s Day in 1981. One week later, he started working in Maintenance at PPG Industries in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Immediately upon moving to Lake Charles, Jimmy started going to McNeese University at night in pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was very proud to receive his Master’s degree in 1986, the first person in his family to achieve that goal.  
 
Jimmy leaves behind his wife of 41 years, Marianne Robertson Wallace, his two children, Maribeth Wallace Buczacki (Andrew) of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, and James Ervis “Jamie” Wallace III (Alley) of Moss Bluff. He was blessed with one grandchild, Reese Marley Wallace. She was his little angel. He was preceded in death by his beloved parents, Silvia and Ervis, and his grandmother, Thelma Wood of Tupelo, Mississippi.  
Jimmy’s interests were numerous and varied; he enjoyed travelling, history, working on engines (of any type!), growing tomatoes, watching baseball, New Orleans jazz, playing Star Trek with his buddies online, poker, and he was an avid Ole Miss football fan. He took a lot of ribbing at work during football season from his coworkers. He would go to work after on Monday after a college football weekend, and say, “Those A & M engineers are going to give me a hard time today!” He once said after an Ole Miss loss to LSU, “Yeah, Ole Miss and LSU used to be a huge rivalry. Now we’re just kind of a scrimmage game.” He was a voracious reader and was fond of books concerning history, especially battle plans of wars, from the Roman Empire Wars to the war in Afghanistan. His favorite pursuit was spending time with his loved ones. Jimmy was devoted to his parents, his siblings, and of course his wife, his children, and his grandchild. He and Marianne made many wonderful memories, travelling across the country to see their children, going to National Parks, professional baseball games, cruising to Alaska, going to the beach and the mountains, sitting together on porch swings.  
Jimmy played high school football at Strider Academy, was a Boy Scout, and enjoyed scuba diving. At Ole Miss, Jimmy was a member of ASME, the Society of Student Mechanical Engineers, and played Dungeons and Dragons with his friends. He was very involved in the Lake Charles Community, particularly in Moss Bluff and coached recreational football and baseball teams in Ward 1. Jimmy was a very active Boy Scout Leader for 10 years, often taking his troops camping on weekends, even as far away as scuba diving in Florida. He considered one of his greatest accomplishments to be the fact that four of his original six scouts in his first Tiger Cub troop all became Eagle Scouts, including his son. He was a Sam Houston Band Booster for five years and had lots of fun going on trips with the band, especially to marching festivals and away games. Jimmy also enjoyed embarrassing his children by dancing (badly) when the band played in the end zone during football games. He was an officer in the PPG Family Association for many years, and he LOVED calling the bingo games. He worked on many, many projects during his 42 years with PPG/Axiall/Westlake Chemical and climbed from zone planner to Engineering Superintendent. His favorite part of work was mentoring young engineers and helping people with whatever he could.  
A celebration of life will be held at the Johnson Funeral Home on Thursday, August 31, from 4:00-8:00. Starting at 6:00 PM, we would like to have “Open Mic Night.” Please feel free to share a funny story about Jimmy or how he might have touched your life in some way. The family would really love to hear it. For those who do not wish to speak, there will be paper and pens, to jot down a quick story about him. Those of you who knew him well know that no one enjoyed a story poking fun at Jimmy more than Jimmy Wallace himself. 
Jimmy was funny, smart, kind, honorable, and unforgettable. He was a devoted family man, a dedicated employee, a trusted and loyal friend who would have your back whenever you needed him. We will some day meet again, and hear him say, “Love you more.” 
The funeral will be Friday, September 1, at 10:00 am at the Johnson Funeral Home in Moss Bluff.