Imagine my amazement to find that one of my comic book legends from 1941 now lives on the second floor of Russellville Park's East building. She no longer wears those over-the-top skin tight spandex outfits but rather chooses to wear a less flamboyant attire befitting an 83-year-old Grandmother. She goes by the name MJ Wallace now.
Mary Jean Wallace lost Pat, her husband of 65 years, in 2020 and after selling their home in S. E. Portland, she elected to start her new life in the Russellville Park retirement community. Let me tell you a few things about her old life that validates the moniker of "Wonder Woman".
MJ is a native Oregonian who has lived in the Portland area all her life. She attended Grant High School where she didn't achieve celebrity for her ability to run faster than other girls because schools in those years had almost no programs for girl athletes.
She and Pat designed a family of three boys and two girls and when you ask her what you do to keep that boatload afloat she will tell you, "Just about everything." That's what MJ and Pat Wallace did: just about everything. The 18th century economist Adam Smith who is credited with drafting the theory of capitalism would have loved MJ and Pat. They were entrepreneurs whose clock had no hands and their determination to achieve economic stability was relentless.
The two of them operated a small motel on Barbur Blvd. That's a twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week adventure of cleaning rooms, doing laundry, maintaining the physical plant and greeting the public.
They ran a first call funeral service (Pick up the newly deceased and deliver to the designated funeral parlor). One client had a relative who showed no consideration for their client by dying in San Francisco instead of Portland. The client had a fear of flying so chose MJ and Pat's service to transport the body back to Portland. Another time they wanted to upgrade their hearse and found one they liked in L.A. whose owner agreed to a swap for theirs. They drove it to L.A. but seeing it would be late night by the time they arrived, elected to park in a rest stop until morning. They crawled in the back and slept. The sun woke them up in the morning and they rose to finish the trip but heard terrified screaming from outside where people had been looking in the back window. How to finish a journey, laughing all the way. Once they got a call to pick up a body in San Francisco that had to be back in Portland for the funeral service just days away. Middle of the night in the Wallace home: Pat calls out to all five kids, "O.K., everybody up and in the car, we're heading for San Francisco."
They ran a sporting goods store (Gateway Pro-Am Sports) for 35 years. They won contracts for high school athletic uniforms by delivering for the late ordering coaches in a matter of days instead of the big companies' promised deliveries weeks later. This was accomplished by MJ running her sewing machine putting on the special patches and emblems until 2:30 am, night after night.
All this while keeping a family of seven fed and parented (is that a word?). Here is a direct quote from MJ Wallace:" I HATE COOKING !"
When she was in her late 70s and Pat in his early 80s they got jobs as bag checkers for events where hordes of people entered through gates.
That's not enough? On her 40th birthday MJ joined a party that scaled Mt. St. Helens and camped on the spot where the Old Girl blew her top. Some time later.
On her 70th birthday she dived out of an airplane (joined by a guide) to see what that felt like.
On MJ's 80th birthday she went zip-lining with family.
Her 90th birthday is just around the corner so MJ is narrowing the options for her "event." Hint: " Hey, Elon Musk, hold a spot for Wonder Woman on one of your coming shots into outer space. Round trip please."
Over the years MJ ran 13 marathons. When Father Time whispered in her ear that her running days were over, she defiantly walked 11 more.
MJ participates in exercise classes five days a week and she doesn't use a walker. She's a delight to chat with about any subject you might choose because she's probably been there or knows somebody who has.
