Louise Margaret Wallace

6/15/1942 - 2/28/2025

New London - Louise Margaret (Hayden) Wallace, died Feb. 28, 2025 from natural causes at the age of 82. She was born at William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, on June 15, 1942, to Irving C. and Helen L. Hayden.

Her family moved to Groton around 1950, and then New London in September 1960. Louise was a 1960 graduate of Fitch Senior High. She enrolled in the Lawrence + Memorial Hospital's Nursing School and lived at Pond House until graduation in 1963. After a short time working in Washington, D.C., she took a nursing position with Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Fla. in 1965. There she met her husband, Ronald Dee "Wally" Wallace; and they were married Dec. 2, 1967, at Chapel by the Sea in South Miami.

New opportunities became available for employment with the Veterans Administration initially in Prescott, Ariz., later taking them to Popular Bluff, Mo., where they built a house in Grandin, and enjoyed the rural environment. Wally died Jan. 6, 2004. Louise retired from the VA Dec. 18, 2012, and then worked in a small rural hospital, as well as a traveling nurse for a short time. She returned to the New London, area where she was able to care for her mother until her mother's passing in 2017.

She enjoyed traveling, making fiber crafts, creating her own cards, coloring art, and caring for her plants. She loved dogs, and was living with Phoebe Matilda Elizabeth Stephanie Wallace (her cat) at the time of her death. She was successful as an Avon representative over many years and she loved the band Aerosmith.

Louise was active in the Fitch High School alumni, Nursing Association, and Eastern Star. She volunteered at animal shelters, Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Bank, and Citizens Band Radio group, among others.

Louise was preceded in death by her parents; stepson Donald Orville Wallace, and his wife, Patricia "Trish" Ann (Nealin) Wallace; as well as a cousin, Dennison Allen. She leaves behind her brother and sister-in-law, Lawrence and Jo Anne Hayden from Anchorage, Alaska; a niece, a nephew, cousins: Carol Allen, Buena Parkinson, Gwen Clark, Robert Fain and Jim Fain; and step-grandchildren, Ronald Wallace and Mary Wallace of Doniphan, Mo., and her best friends/neighbors. Tim Bailey and Dwana Truitt.

Cremation performed by Byles Funeral Services. Memorial donations may be made to Flanders Baptist Church,162 Boston Post Road, East Lyme, or Gemma Moran Food Bank, 374 Broad Street, New London, CT 06320. Memorial service to be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at Flanders Baptist Church, followed by a reception downstairs.