Andrew Wallace, war vet and volunteer, died at 94

Andrew Wallace, 94, was a war veteran, a volunteer, and a Malverne neighbor for 40 years. He died on May 30 after a brief illness, leaving behind a legacy of a lifetime spent serving others.

“Our dad worked hard, and believed in the importance of education and hard work, but also taking care of others,” said his daughter, Adrienne Carmack. “Even when he was retired, he was involved in volunteering and really caring for other people in the community. That was really important to him.”

Wallace was the oldest of 10 children — so it’s little wonder how he got his start caring for others. He enrolled in the Brooklyn Air National Guard during the Korean War, and was called to active duty in California. When he returned home to New York, he began attending business school at night at New York University. It was there that he met Adrienne Higgins. The two went on to share 43 years of marriage and had three daughters, Roseanne, Adrienne and Mary Kay.

“He was just a friendly, smiling, happy guy,” said Wallace’s daughter, Roseanne Horne. “He definitely made friends easily. But he was also really smart, and could have a conversation about all kinds of current affairs.”

“He really was a friend to everyone,” Adrienne said. “He was welcoming, and he wanted to be involved in his kids’ lives, and his grandkids’ lives.”

“He was encouraging and supportive, whatever his kids or grandkids were doing,” she added. “He had a really good spirit about things — really positive, and really had a good sense of humor, and really was devoted to his family and his faith and his community.”

Wallace focused on bringing positivity to those around him — but he still endured more than his share of hardship throughout his own life. His daughter Mary Kay was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was in the third grade, and died shortly after graduating high school. His wife Adrienne later died of ovarian cancer. 

He later fell in love again with a woman named Joan Clark, also from Malverne, but she died only two years after they married.

The tragedies Wallace experienced didn’t stop him from wanting to be a force for good. In his career as a lawyer, he has taken on many cases pro bono, especially for non-profit and religious organizations. He did extensive legal and fundraising work for the Interfaith Nutrition Network, or INN, which helped transform it from a small soup kitchen into the large social services network and Long Island staple it is today.

Wallace volunteered for years with Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He was a Malverne Little League coach, and helped with the CYO teams too. He also used to join his wife Adrienne in helping with local Girl Scout activities. And during his retirement, he traveled to the Dominican Republic to help build homes and water wells.

“The didn’t have to do all the things he was doing,” Adrienne said. “He enjoyed golfing, he enjoyed traveling, but he also made a commitment to these projects, even in retirement. He made sure it was a priority to continue to serve others.”

He carried that same selfless mentality in his personal life, too. He was a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather, and he had a gift for making every single person feel important, Adrienne said. The family often comes together for events they call All For One, One For All — affectionately shortened to AFOOFA.

Wallace was involved in local politics too, running as  candidate for Mayor of Malverne, Nassau County District Attorney, and town of Hempstead Presiding Supervisor. Though he ultimately never held office, he still spent his life focused on how to get involved with his community and make a positive impact on people.

“I know he was really glad they picked Malverne to live in,” Adrienne said. “They just became so involved in the community in so many ways, and he made some lasting friends.”