Wallace Meadows

Wallace Meadows
June 14, 1940 - March 23, 2025
Wallace Meadows was born June 14, 1940 in Lanett, Alabama to Rev. Ernest E. Meadows and Odessa Williams Meadows. He dedicated his life to carpentry, agriculture and music and enjoyed success in those endeavors. Shortly after his birth, the family relocated to the Park City neighborhood of Chattanooga, TN. It was there that, at the age of 8, he first became fascinated with carpentry when a carpenter doing repairs at his childhood home took an interest in him and showed him the correct way to pound nails into wood. His love for building things was born and he began doing small repairs around the house. He graduated from Howard High School Class of 1958 where he was an honor roll student and an active member of the social club The Sharks and even participated in some sit-ins to help integrate lunch counters in downtown Chattanooga. Along with brothers Wilson and Eugene, and close friends Emmanuel Thompson and Robert Eppinger, he created a singing group called The Zircons and signed with King Records in Cincinnati, OH in 1962. The songs "No Tiwisting on Sunday" and "Get Up and Go to School," were among their early recordings released in the 1960s. Later, with brothers Wilson and Eugene, he formed a sibling trio, The Meadows Brothers, and in 1981 the group released their eponymous album The Meadows featuring the hit singles "She's Gone" and "Don't Take it Away." Later, his musical career continued with The Impressions. He attended Tennessee State University where he studied electrical engineering. He worked for Tennessee Valley Authority and went on to found Wallace Meadows Construction Company, which was chosen as one of the companies to work on the construction of Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga, TN. In 1984, he followed in the footsteps of his father and was ordained as a minister and served as Associate Pastor of Hawkinsville Missionary Baptist Church. He was known for his green thumb and grew many thriving gardens of flowers, fruits and vegetables. He had a passion for sharing knowledge about agriculture with anyone who would listen and even called himself 'The Garden Preacher'. He was generous with the knowledge he gained from reading books about history, geography and volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Wallace was preceded in death by his father, Rev. Ernest E. Meadows; his mother, Odessa Williams Meadows; his brothers Herbert, Charlie, Euguene, and Joe; and his sister, Fannie Pearl. He leaves to cherish his memory ten children, Wallace Dwyane Douglas (Toledo, OH); Wallace (Lucretia) Meadows Jr. (Atlanta, GA); Michele Meadows (Cleveland, OH); Eric Tolliver; Michael (Patricia) Tolliver (Bellaire, OH); Mario Jones (Cleveland, OH); Dexter (Monique) Staples (Chattanooga, TN); Tamarra Mace (Cleveland, OH); Patrice Meadows (Atlanta, GA); Melika Meadows (Greg) Heinrich (Atlanta, GA); brother Wilson (Jeanette) Meadows (Douglasville, GA); sisters Mamie (George) Moore (Louisville, KY); Lena (James) Ansley (Chattanooga, TN) and Linda (Inman) Montgomery (Chattanooga, TN); a host of grandchildren; several great-grandchildren, loved ones, and friends. A funeral service in celebration of his life will be held on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at 12:30 p.m. at Greenwood Cemetery in Lanett, Alabama where his ashes will be interred. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to the Black Belt Justice Center, a nonprofit that supports African American farmers, landowners, and communities in efforts to retain and increase land ownership to ensure intergenerational and community wealth.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Wallace Meadows, please visit our floral store.