Loyd Wallace Wadlington

Loyd Wallace Wadlington, of the Lost Prairie community near Groesbeck, passed away at home on Saturday, March 28, 2015, following a lengthy period of illness. He was 77. A Celebration of Life and Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at the Prairie Grove Baptist Church, with Reverend Clifton Jones officiating. Wallace was born November 22, 1937 to James Loyd Wadlington and Myrtle Vest Wadlington in Sweetwater. He grew up there and graduated from high school in Sweetwater. He had visited in the Lost Prairie community with his grandparents, the Vest family, often while he was growing up. He worked for his Dad’s trucking company as a young man and also worked for a contractor for Bell Telephone operating equipment to lay phone lines. Wallace was united in marriage with Mary Louise Hyde on August 20, 1957 in Sweetwater, after making great efforts to meet and date Mary. They moved from Sweetwater to Houston in 1965 where Wallace worked as an automobile transport driver for thirty years. He travelled all over the United States hauling new automobiles and often gone five days a week. While growing up, Wallace bought his first guitar as a teenager and played by ear. He enjoyed singing together with his mother, and playing Country music by himself and with friends while living in Sweetwater. But work with his great passion and he never wanted to miss a day. His hands had always been on a steering wheel, from a little boy sitting in the car pretending to drive to a lifetime on the road, and on the tractor and lawnmower while at home. He loved the guys he worked with, knew many fellow truckers he saw at various truck stops, and just enjoyed being on the road, until he retired from driving in 2000. Wallace and Mary bought land at Lost Pairie that had been in the Vest family since his great grandparents had settled in that area over 100 years ago. They moved there in 1990, while he was still going back to Houston and driving trucks for some time longer. Once he was at home, he really enjoyed working with his cows. Wallace attended the Prairie Grove Baptist Church when his health permitted. He maintained a positive outlook on life, while battling many health problems in the last ten years, never failing to get up until the last day. Wallace was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Janice Winters. He is survived by his wife of fifty-seven years, Mary Louise Wadlington; his daughter, Vanessa Nicholson of Groesbeck; son and daughter-in-law, James and Debbie Wadlington of Groesbeck; and son Rocky Wadlington and his fiancée, Michelle Figard of San Antonio; eleven grand-children; and fourteen great grandchildren.