Marion taught me many things as a young man. From the days of playing poker at a time he and Melba knew they were subsidizing our income from hunting all over the Southeast with Tony and his friends as they grew up also. He was always someone I could be myself with at a time when that wasn't always easy. He was always someone I could be completely honest with and he callled it like it was. The memories I have of those early years could never be replaced and he probably never even knew the influence he had on me as a young man. Rest easy my friend, and one day we will once again grill some steaks, drink a few Crown and diets and play a hand of cards !

Marion was always so funny!  I enjoyed being around him even though it has been many years since I saw him last.  Tony & Tiffany- you guys are in my prayers & I love you both.  I know the feeling of losing your father as I was only 33 when dad passed,so my heart goes out to you and your families.  Janice Dry Davis

Marion DID leave the world a better place. He was a bundle of energy & laughter.  Our family's life certainly was enhanced by knowing this kind, caring, jokester.  He wasn't afraid of hard work. Always conjuring up  ways to earn extra money for his family. Including taking a temporary  job as a contractor in the middle east, while Melba held down the fort, at their M&M Daycare Center.  Marion returned to FL dressed in the traditional white robe & headress with headband around his forehead (thawb & keffiyah).  And of course, a black beard & mustashe.  He looked like the real deal.  He took delight in people welcoming him to the USA.   Our friendship began when our Air Force family moved into Seffner after living 5 yrs. In Turkey & Germany, & we were looking for childcare for our two boys.  Boy, did we hit the jackpot!!  Not only were our sons loved & we'll cared for, but we developed a strong friendship that would last long after we were reassigned  to Colorado & then California.  We became family.  We've been through alot together. Including Tiffany's exciting birth, & Tony's deployment to Iraq.  Marion loved teasing us Michiganders about being Yankees.  We even discovered 2 tee shirts wrapped around our car antenna (told you we've been friends along time ) that read something about being an honorary rebel.   We realized that our toddler, Justin, was being heavily influenced by the time he spent with Marion & Melba, when he started asking for grits & sweet tea, & said, Mamma, ahm fixin do go to naight naight, in a strong southern drawl.    They spent their 1st White Christmas with us in Michigan.  They drove there during a terrible blizzard, which closed I75.  It was the coldest I ever remember....40 below zero wind chill factor!!!  Marion never expected the box of Ruskin tomatoes he brought us, would freeze solid as a rock, being left in the car over night, while they were in a motel, taking shelter from the blizzard. We bundled up & went snowmobile riding; which Tony, & our son Jason loved.   As if they didn't learn from THAT winter mistake, they flew out to Colorado one Christmas, when good sport Marion dressed up as Santa, & visited some if our friend's children.  We took them on what we had hoped to be a winter wonderland horsedrawn sleighride in the woods of the beautiful Rocky Mountains.  But as luck would have it, the sleigh turned over & we had to walk back to the barn!.......laughing all the way, while Marion made jokes about it.     One night Marion called our house & when I answered, he asked to speak to 4yr. Old Justin.  I was cooking dinner, & I asked Justin why Marion called.  He casually said, They are going to have a baby.  I freaked out!!!!  Was soooo excited!!!!  I couldn't get to the phone fast enough to call him back.  When he answered, he was already cracking up laughing.....probably counting to see how many seconds it would take me to call.    The story about the day Tiffany was born, is the best story yet. But you'll have to ask Melba to tell you about how I turned my van into an ambulance to transport both Marion & Melba to two different hospitals to have surgeries that day....  our family feels truly blessed that God & the Air Force, put us in the path of this fun loving man & his wonderful family.  We will miss you, Marion.  But we'll never, ever, forget you. We're sure that Heaven just got a whole lot more fun....since you arrived.   Love, Susan, Kerry, Jason & Justin

To leave the world a bit better ...
to know that one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
**Death leaves a heartache no one can heal; Love leaves a memory no
one can steal.** Love, Michele & Rich

OBITUARY

Marion E Wallace

February 19, 1951 – July 21, 2018

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