The Wallace family business began around 1935 with T.W. Wallace (Pop) starting the At the End of the Trail cemetery in the heart of Greenbrier Valley. This would be the area’s only perpetual care facility at the time. The original 4,000 gravesites would arrive at near capacity by 1955 requiring the purchase of the 126 acre farm across the street. The new land would become Wallace Memorial Cemetery in honor of the late Pop Wallace and his son Luther R. Wallace.
With great attention to the layout and for future growth, Robert L. Wallace (Bob) and his wife Eloise Houck Wallace guided the growth from 1957 into the 1970’s. They oversaw the construction of the area’s first mausoleum and added an additional 110 acres to the property.
Today the grounds of the cemetery are beautifully maintained and the earlier idea of planned growth has paid off. An aerial view of the landscape speaks for the success of the planning and car involved with the layout of the grounds.
The mausoleum offers a variety of crypts and cremation niches, a meticulously designed chapel for services or private settings and a Wall of Honor, recognizing military veterans of all branches of service.
Bob Wallace’s son-in-law, Jerry Campbell and his son Darren, are running the family business now and Jerry mentions an upcoming national Wreaths Across America service being held at the cemetery on December 14, 2013. A selection of locations around the country will be participating in the service and Wallace Memorial Cemetery is one of them. The public and relatives of veterans are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Much information is available on www.wallacememorialcemetery.com about any services or burial needs.
On a side note: In interviewing Darren, I couldn’t help asking whether or not there were any noteworthy stories of ghost sightings in the either the orginal At the End of the Trail, or the newer incarnation of Wallace Memorial. Darren says, “I’m not personally aware of anything like that, but there are two stories in a local book on ghost stories.” He gave me photo copies of pages from the unidentified book detailing some reports of highly unusual night-time orb sightings ongoing in the At the End of the Trail. Another story from a local mother and daughter stating an eerie night of driving by the Wallace grounds at night to visit family graves and recognizing clear indications of being in the right place; but there were no graves to visit that night. Apparently what they saw was from a time before the cemetery was constructed.
