Donovan Wallace

Donovan Wallace
July 20, 1931 - August 31, 2014

Donovan Wallace passed away peacefully on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014, of kidney failure. He was born July 20, 1931, in House, to Albert Rochelle Wallace and Dorothy Armstrong Wallace. He lived in Aztec as a boy and then moved to Carlsbad and House. He moved back to Aztec in 1950 with his new wife Lavell. He had lived in Oregon and Boise, Idaho, for 35 years before returning home in 2008. As his best friend, Art Miller stated, "If ANYTHING was going on in Aztec, Don was involved." Don was deputy chief of the New Mexico Mounted Patrol and captain of Aztec Fire Department, in charge of training and maintenance. He held every office in the Jaycees, including state vice president. He held all offices in the Aztec Lions Club, being the youngest president in NM Lions Club history. Don was chaplain in the American Legion and the VFW. He was a funeral director at Basin Mortuary. Don ran the first ambulance Aztec ever had in coordination with Basin Mortuary. Don and Lavell started the Seventh Day Adventist Church in their living room on Park Avenue in Aztec, in 1957. Don also helped to start the Farmington Seventh Day Adventist Church by paying the first two weeks rent of $5, in a building by The Daily Times. Don started a Teenage Recreation Center where the Old Wagon Wheel was. In Boise, he served in the Prison Ministry at the state penitentiary. Don served his country in the Korean War as an U. S. Army Paramedic in Pusan, Korea, from 1952 to 1954. Don was a businessman as his many businesses would show. He started trucking at 16. He went on harvest and did custom combining with his father and Lavell. He owned Don's Skelly Service, Don's Trailer Court-later El Don Mobile Home Park, El Don Mobile Home Transport, El Don Construction (TV Cable Construction), Journey Inn Motel, Awesome Vending, Awesome Tanning and Toning. Don was part owner of Sharpe Trailer Sales. He sold real estate for Cummings Agency and worked for Benson Montin Greer. He was executive director of the Housing Authority in Redmond, Ore. He was yard foreman for a sawmill in Boise. Don ran the first ever fiber optic line for cable TV and built the first satellite receiving station in Florida. Don built TV cable systems in New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, California, and Florida. Don is survived by his four children, Creig Wallace, Denise Whitaker, George Wallace and Billie Jack Stephens; three ex-wives, Lavell Wallace, Diana Meers and Marilyn Cummings; grandchildren, Creig Wallace Jr., Michelle and Keith Armenta and George and Billie Jack's children. Pallbearers;Very best friend's in life; Art Miller, Ken Dodson, Don Taylor,Arlo Cleaver, Lloyd Coberly, and Harold Thomas.
A special thanks to his "son" David Whitaker for his devoted care these last six years of his life.
A funeral service will be at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 2010 W. Sierra in Aztec, with Pastor David Tenold officiating.
Don's care is entrusted to Cope Memorial Chapel of Aztec, 405 S. Main Ave., 505-334-9332 tel:505-334-9332. Those who wish to express their condolences may do so at www.serenityandcompany.com http://www.serenityandcompany.com.