Owner always wore a grin

Kenneth B. Wallace, who lived in Wheaton and owned a department store in Glen Ellyn for more than 50 years, is remembered as a kind-hearted and easy-going man.

Mr. Wallace, 83, died Sept. 15 after a heart attack in Noblesville, Ind., family members said.

"He was a very quiet person, very friendly, though," said his youngest daughter Jill Hatcher of Noblesville. "He was always with a smile and was very easy to have a conversation with."

Born in Benton Harbor, Mich., Mr. Wallace spent most of his life living in Wheaton.

Mr. Wallace was a World War II Army veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart. He loved Lionel model trains and was a graduate of Ripon College in Wisconsin.

For years, Mr. Wallace helped run McAllister & Wallace Department Store in Glen Ellyn his mother, Charlotte, after his dad passed away. He eventually became owner of the store.

Hatcher remembers working at the department store with her dad when she was young.

"It was very fun, and I was also very proud of him," she said.

Mr. Wallace and his wife, Audrey, moved from Wheaton to Noblesville about five years ago.

Throughout his life, his children said, he was known to always have a grin.

"Tonight that's what I keep hearing from people," Hatcher said during a funeral service in Noblesville. "He just always had a grin on his face."

A funeral service for Mr. Wallace will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at Leonard Memorial Home, 565 Duane St., Glen Ellyn. The Rev. Gene Parker will officiate.