Evelyn "Cricket" June Wallace

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your field.

Evelyn Wallace, lovingly known to her family and friends as "Cricket", gracefully slipped away from us into a wonderful sunset on May 27, 2019 in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Mom was born on June 3, 1944 in Vancouver, BC to Elsie Penny and Harry Chernoff. She married Gary Wallace in October 1965. Out of that love were born Deborah Lee, Daniel Bruce and Dale Robert. Mom and Dad moved from the rainy Surrey suburbs to the desert hills of Barnhartvale in the summer of 1972.

Mom and Dad would go their separate ways in the late 70s and in the ensuing years, Mom packed us into her Toyota Corolla and moved us into the home of Ray Wallace on Nicola Street. The blended “Brady Bunch” family soon included William, Rosemarie, Stephen and Judy (and Falcon and Pumpkin). Mom would go on to own Flowers by Valleyview, Monte Creek Husky and spent several years working with Ray at Wallace Upholstery.

Cricket had many passions including Rotary and volunteering around Kamloops but it was her lifetime spent with the Girl Guides of Canada where she excelled, enjoying the company of her fellow Guiders and leading by example for generations of women in the Guiding movement. Starting in 1969 as a Brownie leader, Mom spent the next 40 years moving up the Guiding ladder to key leadership positions including Council Commissioner and Lead Trainer. She was an Honourary Member of Girl Guides of Canada and was granted a place in the Girl Guides of Canada’s Book of Honour for outstanding BC Guiders who exemplify the spirit of Guiding.

Mom loved to travel with Ray, spending time either cruising the Caribbean seas or jetting off to exotic lands including Bali, India and Australia. Mom loved to spend her summers at the family cabin on Little Shuswap Lake, entertaining friends and family, reading a good book on the deck or just feeding the chipmunks. Mom especially loved the Christmas season. We always looked forward to her baking and world famous teriyaki wings, but it was the grandchildren who couldn’t wait for Santa’s arrival to the basement and everyone receiving a thoughtful gift wrapped in love. Her lifelong love of gardening will always be evident in her front yard on Fraser Street.

To her family and friends, Cricket was full of fun and laughter, always bringing a warm smile with her kindness, thoughtfulness and gentle spirit. She was an exceptional woman whose spirit will live on in all the many people whose lives she touched.

Mom was predeceased by her mother Elsie, father Raymond Penny and stepson Stephen. She is survived by her daughter Deb (Zieg), son Dan (Dawn), son Dale (Carrie), her husband Raymond and his daughter Rosemarie (Grant), his daughter Judy (George), his son William, her grandchildren Lindsay, Ashley, Kristen, Jean-Yves, Scott, Robert, Matthew, Simon, Sarah, Jason, her seven great-grandchildren, her sister Marilyn (Bob), her sister Carol, her daughter-in-law Donna Wallace, lifelong friends Gary (Myrna) Wallace and Shirley (Fred) Parchoc and her many nieces and nephews. Mom was loved and respected by many in Kamloops and we will all miss her dearly.

The family would like to thank the caregivers and staff at Kamloops Seniors Village and the nursing staff at Hillside Centre, especially Deb, Kelly and Patty who cared for Mom with extraordinary compassion, dignity and respect. We will never forget your kind hearts.

In keeping with Mom’s wishes, her ashes will be spread at Adams and Little Shuswap Lakes later in the summer of 2019 with a gathering for friends and family to be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please give generously to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC to help find a cure for this cruel and unrelenting disease.