Mary Charles Wallace
Mary Charles was a beloved mother and grandmother, lifelong educator, and passionate traveler who never passed up the chance to have ice cream.
Friends and family members are invited to attend a memorial service on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at 11:00 am at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 23 South 6th Street, Columbia, PA 17512.
Mary Charles Wallace, 86, of Masonic Village, Elizabethtown, passed away on Saturday, October 3, 2026. Raised in Harveys Lake, Pa., she was the daughter of the late Calvin and Madge McHose. Mary Charles was a beloved mother and grandmother, lifelong educator, and passionate traveler who never passed up the chance to have ice cream.
After graduating from Lake Noxen High School, Mary Charles earned her degree at Bloomsburg State Teachers College. She moved to Lancaster County to teach first grade in the Columbia Borough School District and went on to teach preschool at the Columbia Day Care Center.
Late in her career, Mary Charles was a Head Start home visitor in rural parts of the county. Monday through Thursday, she taught one-on-one preschool classes in the children’s homes. On Fridays, the kids took the bus to the Head Start center for a group class. In her retirement, she was a literacy volunteer who helped adults, some of whom were learning English, improve their reading. She touched the lives of hundreds with her kindness and love of learning.
Mary Charles was a devoted member of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Columbia for more than 60 years. Over the years, she sang in the choir, served on church council, taught Sunday School — and even played on the church volleyball team in the late ‘80s.
Endlessly curious, Mary Charles wanted to see as much of the world as she could. She traveled to Argentina after falling in love with the gauchos in an elementary school geography class. She went to Norway because she wanted to see the fjords. As a young woman, she traveled to West Berlin and saw President Kennedy’s motorcade in Rome. Altogether, Mary Charles visited more than a dozen countries, often with her family.
It’s hard to put into words what made Mary Charles such a wonderful mother and grandmother. She took her children to the library weekly to check out new picture books, and she later adored reading stories to her granddaughter. She made the most delicious applesauce for family gatherings. (Mary Charles would encourage you to mix different kinds of apples for a more interesting sauce.) She was a source of patient, steadfast support to everyone she loved.
She will be missed profoundly.
Mary Charles is survived by her children, Nicole Wallace of Washington, D.C., and Oliver Wallace of Greenfield, Mass.; her granddaughter Lea (Joni) Wallace of Greenfield, Mass.; and her sisters, Muggsy Dershimer, wife of Gordon Dershimer, and Kathy Farally, wife of Jim Farally. She is also survived by her nieces, Ingrid Burd and Gretchen Baumgardner; her nephew J.C. Farally; and her great nieces and great nephew.
Friends and family members are invited to attend a memorial service on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at 11:00 am at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 23 South 6th Street, Columbia, PA 17512. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Meals on Wheels, a ministry of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, or the Literacy Council of Lancaster – Lebanon.
Send a Condolence
If you would like to send a condolence message to a family please fill out the form below and we will deliver it to them.