Ronald Gerald Wallace

What is it to summarize the life of our beloved husband, daddy, grandpa, papaw, brother, uncle, and friend. Ronald Gerald Wallace, 83, of Anderson, Indiana, passed from us May 5, 2026, while in his home surrounded by his family. He was born Feb 3, 1943, as the youngest boy of the nine children of Robert Dewey and Zeffie Mae Wallace.

Though Parkinson's Disease challenged the last eleven years of his life, Ron lived an active life, dedicating his time, talents, and service to others. A graduate of Anderson High School, his cross-country team photo hung in the halls of the wigwam. We honor him as a veteran who proudly served his country in the U.S. Army. Ron continued his education through night school while working at Delco Remy, enabling him to serve as a Model Maker for the majority of his thirty-eight year career with General Motors.

Even in his retirement, he worked as a master of concrete, and later as the bicycle repairing-gutter cleaning-pressure washing-whatever you need done man of Fairway Village Retirement Community.

In addition to work, he was a hard-working volunteer. His Momma knew she could count on Ronnie to help with the gardens, the mowing, and everything that needed fixing. He gladly served causes such as heading up the Boy Scouts Soap Box Derby, Vice-President and later President, of the Anderson Road Runners, so many jobs on behalf of Riley Cancer Research for children, numerous events and projects of Pendleton Christian Church, and everything else that Jan got him into.

This man was admired for his sharp mind and his abilities to design, fix, or build anything. He was the database of mapping before GPS was invented. No matter where you got lost, he could talk you back on track. He could eyeball a single puzzle piece and tell you just where it fit in the big picture. He was the originator of custom personalized gifts. There was absolutely nothing he couldn't fix, even if it meant fashioning a replacement part out of raw materials. He taught us how to care for things and provided us the tools to do so.

Ron designed items to perfectly fit the purpose, like the swing sets he built strong enough for the young and grown to swing together. He did more than merely design and build the ultimate; he stayed to play and laugh. Papaw gave the ultimate underdog swing pushes, bike rides, hikes, sledding parties, and helped with leaf collections that spanned every variety of tree, nut, and seed in all surrounding counties. He taught us to fish and camp. He led the pack on so many phenomenal vacation adventures. Frequently, he went to crazy lengths to lead our family, both immediate and extended, along with all of our belongings, on memory making vacations. We had faith he would always bring us all back home safely.

Ron was gifted with natural athletic talent and a competitive spirit. He excelled in numerous basketball leagues. He was part of an unstoppable two-man pick up team. He won the Wolfe Creek State Park Ping Pong Championship title. As a celebrated competitive golfer, he won hole-in-one awards on two separate occasions. During his many years of bowling leagues, he achieved multiple perfect 300 games. He contributed his talent to soft ball leagues, tour biking, tennis, etc. His list of talents was a lifetime in length, but his passion was running. He competed in countless 10-15K races and an amazing number of marathons, including Detroit, Louisville, and New York City. Ron qualified for and completed three Boston Marathons.

Not only did he compete in all these athletics, he spent so much time teaching us how to use the backboard, swing your bowling arm like a pendulum, train for endurance running, and that pedaling through life is so much easier with properly inflated tires. Yes, Ron loved to line dance, but he got an extra kick out of teaching line dancing lessons so that others could share in the fun.

If he could help you, teach you, or give to you, his desire was to make life better for you. He meant so much to so many! We are at a loss but he has given us some gifts we can keep forever. He has been a part of our lives that we could never forget. He has inspired us with know-how that we will carry throughout our lives. We are better because he lived and loved us. Our celebration for the life of Ron Wallace will continue until our reunion in Heaven.

Ron is survived by his beloved wife of 54 years, Jan Wallace; his son, Mike (Shawna) Wallace and daughter, Leigh Ann Hopper; granddaughters, Megan Hardenbrook, Mandi (Zach) Baldwin, Mallory (Henry) Nichols, Courtney (Dylan) McClure, Ashley (Dru) Witham, and Brittney (Kyle) Lacy; great-grandkids, Marlee, Tessa, Franki, Mac, Marta, Tucker, Aria, Everly, and Eddy; his sister, Susie (Bob) Spangler; sisters- in-law, Norma (Bill) Pugh, Jama Beach; and many nieces and nephews, including Mike (Cathy) Maxwell.

He was preceded in death by his cherished daughter, Victoria Jeanne Wallace; his Mama, Zeffie Mae Wallace and father, Robert Dewey Wallace; brothers and sisters, Helen (Harold) Webb, Frank (Fern) Wallace, Dean (Richard) Collins, Joyce (Don) Maxwell, Donald (Margaret) Wallace, Douglas (Jackie) Wallace, Judy (John) Samuels; brother-in-law, Larry Fugett; son-in-law, Kerry Hopper; as well as many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

A Celebration of Ron’s Life will be at Pendleton Church of God on June 20, 2026, at 2:00pm. Rev. Michael Canaday will officiate. We invite you to join in dinner, dessert and memories immediately following.

Neptune Society has been entrusted with cremation arrangements.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the Wallace family at: https://neptunesociety.com/obituaries.