Barbara A. Wallace

It is with great sadness that the family of Barbara A. Wallace announces her passing on Saturday, November 28, 2020, due to congestive heart failure, with her loving family by her side. She was 78 years old.

Barb was born in La Crosse, WI, to Elizabeth and Robert Garder. She married Larry D. Wallace.  They had three lovely daughters and raised them together in Waukesha and then Mukwonago, until her husband’s untimely death in 1981.

Barb proudly worked for the Waukesha School District for 29 years and loved it very much. She was compassionate beyond measure, which made her perfect for the job of working in the schools and eventually at the administration building. She also loved the work she did as a Board Member for her condo association.

Barb exemplified the greatest resilience, tolerance and unconditional love that one could ever expect from a woman of her stature and life experiences. She gracefully showed everyone how to continue living and move forward after losing her husband and then her adoring youngest daughter Kimberly. Barb and her sweet smile will be greatly missed by all that knew her.

Barb wrote, “thank you doesn’t say enough to my daughter Laurie, son-in-law Bob and my grandchildren Joey, Kelly, Bobby, Johnny and Jackson, who all took care of me over the last few years and especially this last year. They moved me into their home, gave me my own room and surrounded it with everything I love, including my grandchildren, which was so comforting”.

Barb would also like to especially thank Susie Ciardo Wolff for being our spokesperson during Kimberly’s unexpected death. Barb wrote, “she is Jackson’s Godmother and our forever family friend.  We are so grateful for the times she stepped up to assist us, including all the phone calls”.

She is survived by her daughters Laurie A. Zanotti (Robert) and Elizabeth A. Wallace, grandchildren Joseph (Kelly), Robert, John and Jackson Zanotti, Ashley Wundrow (Tyler) and Bailey Gogin (Ben), great-grandchildren Harper and Maverick Wundrow and Braelyn Bajorek, nephew John Garder, great nephews Jack and Ethan Garder, sister Sue Schliecker (John), brother Randy Chesak (Beth), cousin Mike Anderson, Josh Anderson (Kathy) and Mandy Carson (Andrew).

Barb was preceded in death by her husband Larry D. Wallace, her dearest daughter Kimberly A. Smith, mother Elizabeth A. Garder, father Robert Garder, brother John Garder, grandmothers Barbara Todt (Arthur) and Lillian Garder (Clayton) and adoring aunts Margaret Todt and Jean Anderson (Donald).

Funeral services will be held at Krause Funeral Home located at 21600 West Capitol Drive, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on Thursday, December 3, 2020. Visitation will be from 4:00 PM – 5:45 PM. Funeral service at 6:00 PM. Barb will be laid to rest next to her late husband Larry, the following day at Oak Grove Cemetery in La Crosse, WI.