Mario Wallace

1950 - 2019

(News story) Mario Wallace, 69, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War and a Toledo police officer for nearly three decades who was an officer in his union, died Tuesday at home in Fulton County's Swancreek Township.

He had liver cancer, son Mario II said.

Mr. Wallace retired from the Toledo police department in 2008. He closed his career on day shift, mostly patrolling East Toledo. He'd received a Toledo police professional service award a decade earlier.

He weathered changes in crime - and the department's approach to police work. When higher-ups sought to quell downtown panhandling in the early 1990s, Officer Wallace walked a beat outside the banks and office buildings. When a focus on community policing in the late 1990s brought foot patrols back to the Lagrange Street business district, Officer Wallace pounded the pavement.

When downtown, he found that people stopped him frequently to talk, to ask questions.

"You're more accessible," he told The Blade in 1993. "They don't have to flag you down in your police car."

Many commented on how much they missed the police mounted patrol, which was disbanded in 1991 after several years.

"Yeah, they're still talking about the horses. They want the horses back," Officer Wallace told The Blade. The mounted patrol returned later in the 1990s, but was discontinued in the late 2000s.

The cost of outfitting foot patrol Officer Wallace: one pair of running shoes.

"Regular police shoes don't cut it on this beat," he said in 1993.

Mr. Wallace liked the camaraderie and teamwork, and "he loved going out and meeting people and making friendships," his son said.

He was gratified "if he could save somebody's life or change somebody's life for the better," his son said. "He loved being a Toledo police officer."

Mr. Wallace was a former vice president and a former chief steward of the Toledo Police Patrolman's Association. He and TPPA President D. Michael Collins were friends. Mr. Collins later served on City Council before winning election as Toledo mayor.

A few years before he retired, Mr. Wallace and his wife moved from West Toledo to Fulton County.

"He had his three acres out here. That's what he looked forward to - retirement, so he could take care of his land and his grandkids," his son said.

He was born Feb. 20, 1950, to Maria and Edwin Wallace and grew up at Franklin Avenue and Page Street near what is now Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center. He was a 1968 graduate of Central Catholic High School.

He enlisted in the Army and fought in the Vietnam War. He became a sergeant, but declined to share details of his wartime service.

Mr. Wallace also served in the Ohio Army National Guard for 20 years.

Surviving are his wife, Marilyn, whom he married May 7, 1977; daughter, Rachel Peters; sons, Mario II, Tony, and Dominic; brothers, Edwin, Tony, Johnny, and Teddy, and 15 grandchildren.

Memorial services will begin at noon Saturday at Newcomer Funeral Home-West Sylvania Chapel, where the family will greet friends after 11 a.m. A celebration of life will be held from 2-5 p.m. Saturday at the TPPA on Franklin.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or to the Toledo Area Humane Society.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.