Funeral services for Lew Elder Wallace, 87, of Mobridge, SD, will be Thursday, February 5, 2015, at 10:30 AM at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Mobridge. A prayer service will be held on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, at 7:00 PM at Kesling Funeral Home in Mobridge. Mr. Wallace passed away on January 29, 2015, at the Good Samaritan Society of Selby, SD.

Long time merchant of Mobridge Lew Elder Wallace passed on to the Spirit World on Thursday, January 29, 2015. Lew was born in rural Fort Yates, ND on October 13, 1927 to Hiram Wallace and Maude (Noel) Wallace. Lew grew up along the Missouri River on both the west and east sides in Pollock and Kenel, South Dakota.

Lew was known for his natural mechanical abilities, these exceptional abilities allowed him to design and build a family camping trailer that rivaled both quality and design of factory made campers. He designed and built box kites; he was a talented carpenter having designed buildings with detailed floor plans; assembled a useable passive solar system back in the 1970's that subsidized their heating bills; taught himself through a correspondence school how to fix watches and clocks and became a certified clock maker having restored dozens of antique clocks. Lew was inventive and was always tinkering with his projects.

In Lew's younger years before joining the military he and his father Hiram ran amateur baseball teams during the 1940's and during WWII there would be professional baseball players who made their way to the Pollock and Kenel areas including Satchel Page. Lew played with him as Lew was also known as a talented first baseman.
At 23, Lew joined the US Army during the Korean War and was stationed in Japan between 1950 and 1953. After returning home, Lew worked alongside his Father and three brothers at the family business in Pollock and then in Kenel when they moved the business there.

He married Alfreda Rose (Martin) Wallace on June 26, 1954 and they had just celebrated 60 years of love and friendship. They began their lives together in Kenel, moved to Oregon and returned to South Dakota in 1978.

Lew is survived by his wife Alfreda Martin Wallace and children; Lew Wallace Jr. (Cynthia Keiser), Hiram Wallace (Monica Lane), Theodora Wallace-Hardcastle (Tom Hardcastle), Lori Elmore (Ron Elmore) and Michele Hill (Melvin Hill); 11 grandchildren; Eric Hawker (Tami), Erin Hawker-Neufeld (Alfred), Guthrie Capossela (Tonya), Samantha Savageau (Floyd), Martin Wallace, Amber Yarbor (Ryan), Jason Hill, Brett Lang, Sydney Elmore, Baylei Hill, and Amber Crossley; 16 Great Grandchildren; Zachary, Madilynn, Abbigail, Emmilee, Kaleb, Leah, Izzy, Jackson, Oliver, Tyson, Taya, Trenton, Sage, Dillon, Tia and Hailey.

Lew is preceded in death by his parents Hiram and Maude Wallace, brothers; Donald (Mick) Morilon, Douglas (Jack) Morilon and Gayle Wallace; a son Martin Lee Wallace and a grandson, Chad Allen Wallace, and his dog/bestfriend Dixie.