Marion Cole, or “Melissa”, as she hated to be called, was born April 24th, 1920. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. As a result, she and her sister, Eileen, were raised by their grandparents in Windsor, Ohio. During her school years, she attended Colebrook Elementary School and Windsor High School, both in Thompson, Ohio. At the ages of 12 and 13, she showed off her talents by taking part in the Ashtabula County Fair with the 4-H club. In high school, she participated in and was even the star of some musicals, again showing off one of her many talents. After graduation, she worked at Camp Roosevelt in Perry, Ohio where she met her husband, Robert Wallace. The two married and later, in 1946, they moved to Madison where they raised two sons, William and Kenneth. She lived in that house at 149 Union Street for 43 years. Whenever a neighbor was in need, she was the first to be there. She was always making flower bouquets for everyone from her very own flower garden; during the spring and summer, she would always have flowers everywhere.
Over the years, she maintained the friendships she had begun as a child and attended nearly every class reunion that was held during the summer months. In 1998, she attended her final one, the 70th year class reunion.
She kept a record of her life through photographs, newspaper clippings, and anything else that she could get her hands on to add to one of her many scrapbooks. Looking back on that now, this almost represents a foreshadowing of what was ahead of her. It was as though she knew there would come a time in her life when these memories would be forgotten so she wanted to ensure that she had a way to hold on to each and every one of them. From her collections, it is quite obvious that she loved spending time with her friends and family. She went on many vacations with her husband and her sons, and later in life with her sister and brother-in-law. She enjoyed playing cards, listening to music, and she loved animals. Simply enjoying her surroundings, she would admire the “posies” and was able to name the type of nearly every flower, tree, and bird that she saw.
She had a keen sense of humor and loved to laugh. Dressing up on Halloween and fooling all of her neighbors became a tradition of hers. She truly was special and one of a kind. She believed in living her life to the fullest, and was fiercely independent.
Although the beginning and the very end of her life were tough, one would have never known, for her whole entire life one never heard her complain about anything. She had a knack for making the absolute best out of any situation; a trait she passed down to her two children and her three grandchildren. She loved life and was loved by all that knew her. Throughout her life, she was surrounded by wonderful people in a happy place that she called home. |
