Mrs. Marjorie Loudon Wallace

Marjorie arrived in the world at the start of an era: she came on May 18, 1923, when the Roaring Twenties were getting into swing. Her big sister, Dorothy, was already there, and Marjorie means "Pearl", which is how they saw her. She was a cute little blonde who loved all animals, so she would hug kitties till a few threw up ... but, they loved her. Beyond kitties, she loved dogs, so her family got her a collie, "Tawny", then shortly after that, they replaced Tawny with a cute terrier-spaniel mutt named "Topsy". Topsy let Marje pull her around the block when Marje was skating and carrying a leash. Topsy stayed long enough to become the playmate of younger brother Bob (b. 1927) and liked to play games with both Marje and brother. Marje liked to tell how Bob had multiple nicknames for Topsy, and she'd always come ("Here, Gingerbread!") . Before the Crash of 1929l the Loudon family was well-off. They had a yellow stone bungalow, and their dad, Ken (a "Preppie" type...rich Eastern and cigar-smoking) was a rising young exec at GE. She liked to tell how the Christian Science church saved them all ... Their mom, Elizabeth Connell Loudon, was healed of tuberculosis, Bob behaved in Sunday School, and Dorothy learned not to cry. Later, Gramp (Ken) gave up smoking, and Marje had a healing of throat problems. After the crash of '29, the family got creative in surviving. Gram (Elizabeth) was a good cook, so she took many catering jobs. Dorothy worked in candy sales, got a college scholarship, and became a teacher. Bob learned lots about cars and became a trucker, then an auto-parts salesman. Ken took many jobs, where he was an excellent public relations man. Marje, with her good grades and artistic talent, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Eventually, she landed a good job in Commercial Art at Jewel Tea Company. To be home with daughter, Anne, Marje invested in a drawing board and a Vari-Type machine. She took on lots of free-lance Commercial Art work, including a merchant directory for Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She and a friend, Myrtle Holman, wrote a book about Bobby Rivers, dance guru for the kids of Glen Ellyn. Marje did writing and artwork, and that project launched her career as a writer. To back up a bit, Marje married her soldier-hero, Vernon Wallace, in 1943. They waited till he was back from WWII before they had Anne in 1949. Most every Sunday, the whole Loudon family would gather for formal dinner at 319 Fox St., Aurora, IL, Ken and Elizabeth's house. Dorothy was married there in the early 1950s. Their daughter, Peggy, was a beloved niece and a good pal to daughter, Anne. When Bob married, it was into a wealthy family on the West Side (the Arbeiters), and the next generations of Loudons began, with Mother, Janice, first Bobby... then David, John, and Tom ...lots of sweet children to call Marje "Aunt". When Vernon's office transferred him to Minneapolis in 1964, Marje began work as a writer in earnest, Though she still did commercial art for Erickson-Holiday for a couple of years, she was drafting up many of Vernon's WW II stories into what would become the book, "A Key to Treason". (self- published, 1990s). She ended up in the San Francisco Peninsula area of California because daughter Anne was there with her husband, and the SF Bay Area is full of opportunity! Tho she wrote a short novelette sequel and many short stories and some poetry, "A Key to Treason" she considered her main achievement. She attended many writer conferences and classes and was always proud of her accomplishments. She continued teaching, in both Sunday School and as a classroom aide in Special ed., when possible. She used her teaching, political, and artistic skills to make the city of East Palo Alto, California, a better place to be! More could be told, but I think (as daughter, Anne) she'd consider this more than enough! Other friends are welcome to add! ' '