Mary Lynne Wallace

Mary Lynne Wallace passed peacefully on the 22nd of November at the age of 82, surrounded by the love of family and friends.

Mary Lynne was born in May 1943 in Kewanee, IL, the oldest of three kids, to Gertrude and Edward Schafer. After graduating from Moline High School, she held a few positions before joining Deere & Company in 1962. It was at John Deere that she met and fell in love with Richard (Dick) Wallace. They were wed in January of 1966 and remained together until Dick's passing in January 2019, giving them a wonderful 52 years together.

Mary Lynne and Dick eventually settled in Decatur, IL, raising two sons, Richard and Brian. During the time in Decatur, Mary Lynne volunteered and helped organize t-ball in South Shores. She served on the board for YMCA soccer and spent innumerable hours at the soccer fields each weekend, helping ensure that everything ran smoothly.

Her Catholic faith held great importance to her. As part of the Holy Family Parish in Decatur, she was urged to teach grade school kids about their faith. She served as a teacher in the PSR program from 1980 until 2009, influencing numerous kids to learn more about Catholicism and strengthen their devotion to their faith.

Mary Lynne found fulfillment in reading throughout her life and never hesitated to share and encourage this passion for reading in others. The desire to encourage and support reading got a significant boost when she took a position with the Mt. Zion District Library in 1993. It was in this position that she got the opportunity to lead children's programs, ensuring that young children not only were presented with fun opportunities to expand their ability to read and their overall interest in reading.

One activity that both relaxed and challenged her was in doing cross stitch. Friends and family alike knew how much time and energy she spent on this activity. In fact, Mary Lynne completed a myriad of projects on a wide array of subjects, ensuring that family and friends were often the recipients of her dedicated efforts at cross stitch.

In retirement, she and Dick spent significant time exploring the small towns throughout central Illinois. They enjoyed finding the variety of shops these towns had to offer, whether it was an arts and crafts shop or a book shop or an antique shop. The trips provided the opportunity to explore these towns and thrill of the hunt, uncovering numerous unique items. Among the items she was always on the lookout for were Santa memorabilia and different patterns of glass dinner wear.

Retirement also provided Mary Lynne with ample time for tracing the family lineages of both the Schafer and Wallace families. The amount of time and energy she put into this activity ensured that she traced these family trees back 200 years or more. Uncovering previously unknown family connections brought her joy and motivated her to spend even more time in search of the next family revelation.

In 2018 Mary Lynne and Dick made one final big move to Georgia to be closer to family. She identified that in a certain sense this move brought them full circle, having lived in Georgia shortly after marriage during Dick's military service. She even joked that Georgia's red clay really sticks to you and never really comes out completely, which is why it was fitting that they moved down to Newnan, Georgia from Decatur, Illinois.

Mary Lynne Wallace was preceded in death by her loving husband, Dick; her parents; her younger brother, Ron Schafer; and daughter, Aileen. To the end, she was a devoted mother, sister, and grandmother. She is survived her sister, Carol Black; her sons and their spouses, Richard and Stephanie and Brian and Gina; one grandchild; nieces and nephews; and a loving community of extended family and friends.

A funeral mass honoring Mary Lynne will be held at 11:00 AM on Wedensday, November 26, 2025 at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Newnan, GA, followed by a brief graveside memorial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Newnan.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations made in her honor to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library - https://donate.imaginationlibrary.com/.

Online condolences may be made by visiting www.mckoon.com.

McKoon Funeral Home & Crematory, 770-253-4580