Harry L. Wallace
Passed away peacefully at the age of 94 on May 15, 2022, in Mequon, Wisconsin, where he lived much of his adult life. Harry was born in San Francisco, California, on June 26, 1927, the firstborn of Anna Ruth Wallace and Leon H. Wallace. The family moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1930, where Harry’s two sisters, Susan Voelkel and Leona Mullery, were born.
After high school, Harry attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, for one year before joining the United States Navy in June 1945. He returned to Indiana University a year later. After graduation in 1949, Harry left for Harvard Law School, soon to become a third-generation lawyer. When hostilities in Korea broke out, Harry and his college sweetheart, Mary Lue Eckels, decided to get married earlier than planned, on April 16, 1951. Mary Lue then returned to IU to finish her studies, joining Harry in Boston, Massachusetts, after graduation two months later. From July 1952 to June 1953, Harry clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice Sherman Minton. He then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to join the law firm now known as Foley & Lardner LLP, while Mary Lue returned to Bloomington to give birth to the couple’s only child, Mary Ann, before joining Harry in Milwaukee. Harry practiced law with Foley & Lardner his entire career, focusing on banking and tax law, until his retirement in 1992. He was a member of the Milwaukee Club until his death. Harry served as lay leader of Mequon United Methodist Church and on the School Board of Mequon-Thiensville School District, including as Board President. Following his divorce in 1993, Harry looked up one of his high school classmates, Marilyn Belles, and they were married in 1995, spending ten happy years together in Northbrook, Illinois, until Marilyn’s death in 2005.
Harry and Ruth Goldmann, who had known each other since Harry’s school board days, were married in November 2007 and made their home in Mequon, Wisconsin. Harry is survived by his spouse Ruth Goldmann; his sister Leona Mullery; his daughter, Mary Ann Frantz; his grandchildren, Eric Frantz, Erin Rodgers, and Emily Frantz; and his great-grandchildren, Eliana, Abiela, and Matthias Frantz and Emma, Evelyn, Ethan, Elayne and soon-to-be-born Eileen Rodgers. A memorial service to celebrate Harry’s life will be held at 11 am on June 5 at Mequon United Methodist Church, 11011 N. Oriole Lane, Mequon. For those wishing to make a memorial gift, suggestions include Kathy’s House in Milwaukee, Mequon United Methodist Church, and the Leon H. Wallace Memorial Fund at Indiana University Foundation. Harry will be buried in Highland Lawn Cemetery, Terre Haute, IN.