Sam Wesley Wallace

Sam Wesley Wallace, 89, of Fort Dodge, passed away peacefully on Monday, November 26, 2012, at Trinity Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be 10:00 AM Saturday, December 1, 2012 at the Gunderson Funeral Chapel with Chaplin (Maj) Michael Crawford officiating. Entombment will be in the mausoleum at North Lawn Cemetery with full military honors conducted by the United States Navy and the VFW Post #1856. Visitation will be from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM Friday at the Gunderson Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Fort Dodge. Sam is survived by his three sons, Michael (Barbara) Weston of San Francisco, CA Clifford Weston of Decatur, IA and Steven Wallace of Los Angeles, CA; and four grandchildren. Sam is preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy on February 2, 1984; his parents, Sam and Carrie Wallace and all of his nine siblings. Sam Wesley Wallace a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was born on December 16, 1922. He joined the United States Navy on September 9, 1940, being signed in by his father at the age of seventeen. Sam was a submariner in which his first time under the water was in a World War I relic which was called a "rust bucket." By the time Sam retired in June of 19...[more]

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the Navy had large nuclear submarines. Sam went on six war patrols in the Pacific Ocean aboard the submarine USS Mingo and is featured in the book, "Black Submariners in the United States Navy, 1940-1975." Sam was selected in April of 2010, by the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight to travel to Washington DC to view the National World War II Memorial. Sam retired from the Navy as a Chief Steward, E-7, he and his family, wife Dorothy, and their three sons Michael, Clifford and Steven moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa for three and a half years. More opportunities relocated the family to Connecticut where Sam worked for General Dynamics, Pratt and Whitney, and ultimately for Pfizer Chemical Corporation for 17 years. Sam's second retirement in 1983 brought him and his wife back to Fort Dodge while their grown sons relocated to California. Sam was an avid golfer who achieved 4 Holes-In-One starting at the age of 72 through 82 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course. Sam will forever be remembered as a fun loving man who made everyone feel special. Sam was always full of jokes but with the jokes came an appreciation of life and living it in the fullest of ways.