Skipper Wallace

Benny Raymond "Skipper" Wallace of Lampasas died May 31, 2025, at the age of 80.  Skipper was born at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas, on May 29, 1945, the oldest of three children born to Raymond Ferguson Wallace and Bettye Zue (Bourland) Wallace.

Visitation will be held at Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel in Lampasas on Thursday, June 5, 2025, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  Services will be at Lampasas Methodist Church on Friday, June 6, 2025, at 1:00 pm.  Interment will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery.

His dad was in the Navy on the Coral Sea aircraft carrier during World War II and wrote letters home asking how's the "little skipper" and the name stuck.  Skipper grew up in Hillsboro, Texas, and graduated from North Texas State University in 1969.  While at college, he met Marcia and has always said it was love at first sight.  They were married eight months later and have celebrated 56 years of marriage.

After graduation, Skipper became the first City Manager in Gatesville, Texas, and later served as City Manager in Groves, Denison, and Lampasas, Texas.

Skipper and Marcia raised three daughters and were both very involved in their children's and nine grandchildren's lives.  Skipper told his daughters that they could do anything and there were no limits to what they could accomplish.  He instilled his values of public service and love of his town, state, and country in his daughters and grandchildren.  He enjoyed taking them on vacations, to snow ski, on trips to the Texas Capitol, to political meetings, fishing, hunting and boating on the lake.

Skipper touched the lives of everyone he met.  He always went out of his way to help people in any way he could and never met a stranger.  He always said he wanted to leave the world a better place than he found it.  The family moved to Lampasas in 1983 and opened Mr. Gatti's Pizza which eventually expanded to include a location in Burnet and Marble Falls.  Skipper could always be found at Mr. Gatti's with a smile on his face welcoming everyone until he retired from the business and sold it in 2003.

Skipper led a life of public service dedicated to helping the people of Lampasas County, the great state of Texas, and the United States.  In January 1991, Skipper was elected as the Lampasas Republican County Chairman where he served for 28 years until he retired in 2019.  He was a delegate to the Texas State Republican Convention during those years and was honored to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2000, where he got to vote as a delegate from Texas for George W. Bush to be the president.  He was elected to the State Republican Executive Chairmen's Association where he worked tirelessly at the Capitol on bills including the Voter ID Bill and was awarded the Texas Republican County Chairman's Association Volunteer of the Year Award.  He and Marcia were honored as the Conservative of the Year by the Lampasas County Conservative Club.  Skipper was also awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the TRCCA.

Skipper served on numerous boards including the Lower Colorado River Authority Board, the Hill County 100 Club Board of Directors, the Statewide Rural Healthcare Board, the Central Texas College Foundation Board, and the Rollins Brook Hospital Board.

Skipper is survived by his wife, Marcia Gail (Storm) Wallace; his three daughters, Natalie Wallace Bennett, Kristine Jacob (Brian), and Audrey Sanguinet (Jody); his brother, Samuel Wallace; nine grandchildren, Alexander Bennett, Nathaniel Bennett, Elizabeth Bennett, Benjamin Jacob, Hailey Jacob, Braxton Jacob, John Lindner, Piper Lindner, Kallie Lindner; great-grandchildren, Samuel Bennett, and Ezekiel Bennett.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Steve Wallace and his parents. 

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Skipper Wallace Memorial Scholarship at Cadence Bank to continue Skipper's legacy of public service and leaving the world a better place than you found it.