No native son of Shelby County has done more to encourage learning our country’s history than Richard (Rich) Wallace. Born and educated in in Mansfield, Ohio, Rich later graduated from Capital University and from the Claude Pettit College of Law at Ohio Northern University. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1969-1972 as a diving officer and was stationed at Little Creek Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach,Virginia.
Early in his law career in Sidney, he became enamored with this city’s and county’s historical figures and history to the extent that he has made them come alive with his authoring of two fascinating books called Voices of the Past, Volumes I and II. Always concerned with helping educate others about our fascinating history, he has also written three award-winning teacher guides available to classroom teachers throughout the county. Of special note are the articles he researched and wrote as a series for publication as special sections of the Sidney Daily News chronicling the decades from 1900 to 1999. These became a series of decade-covering sections published individually and often used by others in their own research. These sections also received the first prize in the special insert series award given by the Ohio Newspaper Classified Association. Encourage by his mentor, William Ross, Jr., Rich helped revive the Shelby County Historical Society along with Mr. Ross’s son Bill III, and guided it through its early years by serving as president for eight years. He has continued as an officer and active board member for more than twenty-nine years.
His latest contribution has been as lead donor, writer of content, and guiding spirit in leading a team creating the Wallace Family Learning and Innovation Center. This Center presents a novel way to experience our history through interaction and technology – Rich has been an active partner in the Elsass, Wallace, and Evans law firm as a practicing and respected lawyer in the community. For several years, he served as a coach for the Sidney High School Mock Trial team that excelled in competition. He has served his community so well that he was awarded the 2000 Zenith Award for community service presented by the Sidney-Shelby County Chamber of Commerce. He has become so synonymous with Shelby County history that he is the resident authority, a much sought-after speaker and living history presenter.
Besides the practice of law and his involvement in local history, Rich’s faith has been the guiding light of his existence as he and his family have established the Wallace Discipleship Fund to support the local First Methodist Church in its outreach through literature. He has led Bible-study classes and has served on numerous faith-related boards to better the lives of those dealing with various addictions. In short, Rich has done all that any one person could do to make Sidney and Shelby County residents connect with their historical heritage and experience a better community.