Mrs. Ilene Wallace

July 26, 1925 - June 26, 2020

Ilene Kennedy Wallace passed from this world into the next peacefully in her sleep early Friday morning June 26, 2020 one month before her 95th birthday. She was born July 26, 1925 in Waldo, Kansas. Her family lived in Hunter, Kansas where her father owned a general store. When she was in jr. high school her family moved to Abilene, Kansas. While she was in high school she became a cheerleader her senior year. After graduating high school she attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for a year. At the age of 20 she met Benjamin Wallace at their church in Manhattan, Kansas while he was stationed at Fort Riley military base. They fell in love and were married on August 2, 1946. After WW2 they moved to Wheaton, Illinois where Benjamin attended and graduated from Wheaton College. From Wheaton they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Between the years of 1947 and 1953 they had their four children, Carol Ann, Dana Elaine, Jonathan Neil, and Lance Stephen. In 1957 they moved from Minnesota to Moline, Illinois where they lived for ten years. Following this they lived in Naperville, Illinois for about 12 years before moving to Murfreesboro, Tennessee where they lived for over 25 years. After Benjamin retired in 2014 they moved to Cocoa, Florida to live with their daughter and son-in-law Dana and Peter Costello. Benjamin passed away in 2017. Ilene was a woman who loved and was dedicated to her Lord Jesus. Her next great love was her husband. She had many loves though; she loved people and conversation. She loved and was deeply involved in every church they attended; she always made many close friendships. She enjoyed participating in and leading Bible studies. She also volunteered as a counselor at the Crisis Pregnancy Center for many years. She loved playing games with her family and friends. She loved being a hostess and having people visit and spend the night. She and Benjamin frequently had missionaries spend time at their house. Vacations were usually spent visiting with family. She and Benjamin had great hearts and once their own children were grown they took in older foster children and also unwed mothers. Ilene is survived by three of her sisters, Ruth Norsworthy, Roma Lee Irby, and Ora Mae Irby and her four children, Carol Orman, Dana Costello, Jonathan Wallace, and Lance Wallace. Her grandchildren are Lisa Kilgour, Mitchell Orman, Aaron Orman, Kevin Orman, and Justin Orman; Christopher Costello and Timothy Costello; Heather Wade, Jon Jr. Wallace, Christina MacDonald, Melodie Mueller, and David Wallace; Nathaniel Wallace, Emily Wallace, Elissa Moon, Sarah Wallace, and Matthew Griffin. Her great-grandchildren: Ruthie, Abbie, Julie, Billy & Tiffany Kilgour; Carolyn, Joel, Raymond, Laura Orman, Eleanor Orman and Allison; Giana, Elena, Carolyn, Natalie, & Amy Costello; Brianna Costello Firebaugh, Matthew and Seth Costello; Laurel, Asher, Nina and Eden Wade; Elijah, Gideon, Roc, Zachery, and Xander Wallace; Dylan, Hannah and Jared Wiley; Greta and Blythe Mueller; Micah, Josiah, and Gabriel-Noah Wallace; Peter and Dorothy Hooper; Ainsley Webb and Frankie Moon; Ella and Lucy Griffin; and great-great granddaughter Lucy Firebaugh. A funeral service will be held Tuesday, June 30, 11 am at Trinity Community Church, Titusville Florida.