There are condolences waiting approval on DELLA's Tribute wall
Celebrating the life of DELLA JUANITA WALLACE
Be the first to share your favorite memory, photo or story of
DELLA.
This memorial page is dedicated for family, friends and future generations to celebrate
the life of their loved one.
We ask on behalf of the family that you keep your comments uplifting and appropriate
to help all who come here to find comfort and healing.
Obituary for DELLA JUANITA WALLACE
Mother Della Juanita Wallace entered this life on May 1, 1938, to the late Myrtle Louise Jones and the late Calvin Wills. Her mother married John Joseph Rice, and she became the oldest of 7 siblings. On Sunday, September 18, 2016, Mother Della entered into eternal peace at the Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick, MD. Her final hours were spent surrounded by family.
Growing up, Della attended the Calvert County Public School System. In 1961, she married her love, the late Robert Wallace, Jr. Robert and Della settled in Huntingtown, MD to raise their family. She was blessed to bear twelve children; nine boys, then three girls. Often times, Della would proudly state, "The doctor said I was good for 6 more!"
Della held numerous jobs in her lifetime. In the county and throughout the state, these jobs allowed her to utilize her natural gift. A particularly excellent cook, her most notable jobs were at Kings Landing Camp and Bowens Grocery. Surely any patron of those places would thank her wholeheartedly for her world famous yeast rolls, sweet rolls, and potato salad (often imitated, never duplicated). The holidays prompted numerous orders for Della's special vittles. She also spent time with her husband working at the Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department. Besides her reputation as the "best who's ever done it" for her cooking skills, Della could also apply that title to her lifelong work as a school bus driver for Calvert County Public Schools - driving bus 213 and bus 39 for over 30 years, accident-free. She ran a tight ship, but was one of the most beloved school bus drivers Calvert County ever witnessed. When it was time to say goodbye, she knew she left her bus in the great hands of her daughter, Tanya "Lisa".
After retiring from bus driving and other jobs, Della spent her days as "Granny." She cared for her many grandchildren, seeing them off to school and back home again, for many years.
Mother Della was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and received the Holy Ghost in the early 1960s, at the Apostolic Faith Church of Jesus Christ the Lord, Inc. She became a lifelong member there, singing on the senior choir, and with her sisters, The Rice Sisters. Mother Della spent many years as a dedicated member; volunteering on many committees; utilizing her cooking and dining skills, for example, on the Hospitality Committee. Mother Della's faith grew strong, enabling her in recent years, to refute many doctor's diagnoses with, "You don't know Jesus like I know Him."
Preceding Della in death were her husband Robert Wallace, Jr., sons Page and Travis, parents Myrtle and John Rice, and Calvin Wills, siblings Myrtle "Marylou," Jerolene, Janice "Niecy," and Clinton "Buddy"; sisters-in-law: Doretha Johnson, Vitenia Spears, Laura Rice; brothers-in-law: Kevin Inghram, Sr., Dewitt Gaither, Louis Johnson Sr., Carlton Wallace. Della is survived by her children, Michael, Julius "Hutchy", Anthony (Roxanne), Nathan, Robert "Levi", Joey (Belinda), Dario "Darryl", Robin (Darwin), Tanya "Lisa" (Frankie) and Nicole; siblings, Yvette Somerville (John), Wayne Rice, and Sharon Inghram; sisters-in-law, Bertha Young (Amos), Mildred Young (Leonard), Jean Moore (James), Gloria Wallace, Kenneth Wallace (Rene), James Jones (Irene); Goddaughter, Anita Tolson; Godson, Christopher Somerville, Sr.; a plethora of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
