Barry Isaiah Wallace
Hello, my name is Barry Isaiah Wallace and I’m the seventh of nine children born to the union of Margaret Harper Wallace and James Glenn Wallace. I attended Judson S. Hill School during my grade school years. My junior high and high school years were spent at West High School which is now West Elementary School. I was an active member of the West High School band and played the trumpet. I graduated high school in 1964 and then attended Morristown College the following school year on a Berkline Scholarship. In 1966 I received my Associate of Arts degree from Morristown College. After graduation, I entered the United States Air Force, December 4, 1966. I did basic training at Lakeland Air Force Base in Texas. Upon completion of my basic training I was transferred to Technical School at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois for Missile Mechanic Training. After finishing this training I was transferred to my permanent assignment of 341st Mims at Malmstrom, AFB, Montana, where I was until I was honorable discharged.
Upon completion of my military stay, I returned home and begin to work. I worked at Magnavox in Jefferson City, Tennessee before returning to school to finish my degree. I applied for entrance into East Tennessee State University in 1973 and began working on my Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education. My degree was received in 1974 and boy was I one happy person; I was the first in our immediate family to receive a four year degree. After graduation, I begin a job at Morristown College working in the Men’s Dormitory as a dormitory assistant. I worked there until I went to Tennessee Valley Authority in 1975.
In 1976; I met my wife, Darlene Renaee Johnson. I had told my nephew that I was going to marry her. Well on September 23, 1978 we became husband and wife being married by her uncle. We had a small outside wedding. Not long after we said our I Dos; it began to rain. I’ve often heard that if it rains on your wedding day it’s a sign of good luck. On December 31, 1980 we were blessed with the most precious son ever; Barry Sean Wallace.
Renaee and I didn’t have any more children but in 2002, we had the privilege of raising a little girl named Lyric Marie Knight. She is the granddaughter that we didn’t have; we raised her as our own. She stayed with us so her father could attend college. Renaee really loves children so this was God’s way of blessing us. I’m her Pop Pop and Renaee is her Nana. We really have enjoyed the time and continue to spend time with her. She is now thirteen years old and is beautiful as ever. We truly love her.
During my 32 year career at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) I did many jobs. When I first went there I became a mail carrier working in the TVA Mailroom; delivering and sorting mail to be delivered to the TVA offices. My next job was at Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant. I first work as a clerk in the warehouse; receiving, tagging, preparing receiving reports, and making issues of the warehouse materials. After working at the warehouse for several years I became an engineer aide. I was a Quality Control Paint Inspector; checking the paint for cracks and did pull test on the walls at the plant. Unfortunately this job was cut short when they decided that Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant would be moth balled. I found myself out of a job for about a year; so I went to the Tennessee Technical School and took up drafting. I had put in for jobs in Knoxville, Tennessee Valley Authority, and one day I received a call for a job as a clerk in the Knoxville Records Center. After years of working there we were upgraded from clerical to administrative. During this upgrade, I became an Information System Specialist. My duties included retrieving records, refilling, doing reports, maintaining a records data base, shelving, shipping, and making destruction of records. I retired from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 2008 with 32 years of service.
On October 4, 2008, I was thrilled to be the Best Man at my son’s wedding to Kendra Wyatt Wallace. About four years later Renaee and I were blessed with a grandson, Braxton Isaiah Wallace, who has my middle name. In 2018, our second grandson, Brock L. Wallace was born. Our little boys are the sweetest little things in the world. You know they have Nana and Pop Pop wrapped around their little fingers. We are members of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Morristown, Tennessee.