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Memorial Page Dedicated to Robert O'Brien (Bob) Wallace |
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Bobby lost his life in this world, on March 31, 2007, in the pursuit of something he loved and had great passion for, soaring in sailplanes. His last day was a beautiful sunny day and he was a happy soul, content with all around him. His end came suddenly and without pain or unhappiness. He was right with God and no man could ask and get a better 66 years than he received. He will be missed by the many that knew and loved him for the truly gentle and kind person that he was.
A short Bio on Bobby from the prospective of a younger brother: In his teenage years, I remember spending summers with our great aunt Daisy May O'Brien in Lake Wales, Fl where all we did was to water ski and fish all day. We use to find muscles with our feet, in the sand, to use as bait for fishing. Bobby who got very good at water skiing with and without skis, found his way into performing for the tourist at nearby Cypress Gardens who did daily water skiing shows. I remember my family talking about him flying kites behind tow boats but do not remember seeing them because I was very young at the time. Bobby was an auto mechanic by trade all of his life, widely known for his exceptional & expert abilities. His specialty was Porsche's until he returned to B'ham in the 1990's and there simply was not enough of them around to support a business. In his youth & middle age days he built and drove many race cars mostly in SCCA events. I remember standing on the corner as a preteen drug store cowboy on the Southside of Birmingham, along with a gaggle of other onlookers as Bobby did a 360, in a Carroll Shelby Cobra, in the middle of Clairmont Ave. What was unusual about this is that he had just install a full set of Webbers on the car's 289 engine, the Webbers where standing well above where the hood scoop use to be, the hood was removed, and the throttle linkage was not yet connected. He was using a string that he was holding over the windshield to control the throttle and of course he had that now famous grin, some call it a "shit eat'n grin", as he disappeared down the street in a cloud of smoke. That was some 45 years ago and people who where there still say today, as I bump into them, "Do you remember when Bobby.....". As a young man in the 1960's, in Birmingham, he was also involved in scuba diving as a dive master and worked for Bill Tant of Southern Scuba Diving conducting classes and open water dives where one of their favorite things to do was to spear absurdly large Barracudas and bring them back. I was privileged to go along at times because the wooden boat they dove out of was so leaky that someone had to constantly man the hand pump. For those that know Bobby it would not be a surprise to know that the old boat only ran because Bobby was always nursing it along. In the 70's it was some race cars but a lot of sky diving & hanging out at drop zones, achieving both Jumpmaster & Advanced Parachutist rating. During this period, well late 70's, he also owned and flew several airplanes after getting his pilot's rating in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson was Bobby's other home town, having lived there for better than 20 twenty years, before returning to Birmingham. He has many good friends there who are as much family as any of us who happen to be blood. Bobby loved to hunt and fish, he did plenty throughout his life. As his brother who got to go with him on numerous occasions, I could fill a book with stories, especially in the beautiful state of Arizona. We hunted quail, mule deer, and elk in places that words cannot easily convey. Wide open areas with grand mountains, Sonoran desert, pine forest, all beautifully varied by altitude. The smell of the desert after a rain is something that lingers strongly in these memories. Bobby loved it and we talked about it often. He got into archery hunting around the early 80's with some of his friends and won a Arizona state title shooting bow hunting style competitions. He was really good with that bow. A grouping that did not compete for the space of a dine in the bulls eye was unacceptable. I have seen several arrows that where a shaft, within a shaft, within a shaft, shoots. Not good for the budget but they make good wall trophies. In the early 2000's he returned to flying after a long layoff when joining the Sylacauga Soaring group, obtaining his glider rating, and flying my Cessna 172. Soaring flight quickly became his favorite outlet where it was not unusual for him to disappear all afternoon on a good day. Bobby was never one to just stand around and talk about things he had an interest in, he went out and did, was never afraid to live his life, always pushing on the envelope of what there was to be experienced. All of this may sound like a fantasy or a contrivance to you? Well, it was not, it was the life of a man named Robert Wallace who like the rest of us, had his strength's and his weaknesses', and he walked this earth from August of 1940 to March of 2007. And I Pray that God Has Received his Soul into Heaven
The following drawing was generously commissioned and given to the Wallace family by a fellow pilot and friend, Steve Bair . It was accepted with much gratitude and now resides with Bobby's wife Brenda. Thank you again Steve, for this kind gesture.
Photo Gallery
E-mail's Received
I am proud of having known Bob for the many years he
ran his repair business. Bob was far more than just someone who
purchased repair parts from my company. He was a trusted and good
friend, someone you knew you could ask a favor, or for help, and knew he
would be there for you. Each time he came through my doors, flying or
fishing would be the topic, but
My thoughts on Bob
My boyfriend and I work for a local salvage yard in North Birmingham and Bob came in often trying out used parts to see if they may work for some of his customers cars and it never failed he always had an interesting story to tell my boyfriend and I. Sometimes I wouldn't see when Bob arrived but I could always walk to the back of our shop and smell that trademark cigar smell, I would stop and grin and say to my self " Bob's here" I know from now on when I smell a cigar I'll definitely think of Bob Wallace. I just wrote to say he is very much deeply missed specially by his friends here at North Birmingham Truck & Auto.
I was looking for information about my very good friend of many years ago… Bob Wallace, when I found articles about his death. Bobby and I spend many, many hours, days (and countless late evenings in the garage at his parents home) and a few years together in and around Birmingham back in the 1960's. I traveled with him to race his Formula V and Paul Wood's 289 Cobra all around the Southeast. In fact the engine in Bobby's Formula V came out of my 1964 VW, and we put Bobby's Porsche Super 90 engine went into in my VW. On one occasion I remember driving Paul's camper/van towing the Cobra behind to Daytona, with Bobby and Paul. We raced the Cobra against Ford GT's and other exotic cars. One day Bobby said 'jump in' and we took the Cobra for a 'tuning run' around the Daytona track with me sitting on the passenger–side floorboard hugging the roll bar (because we had taken that seat out). Clocked at 212 mph down the back straight… it was a lifetime experience! That Cobra was incredible fast and would very easily out run the Ford GTs (except in the corners). Other weekend trips Bobby and I would drive his Ford Falcon, towing the Formula V, all night from Birmingham to race the next day in Savanna, Georgia, then drive all the way back to Birmingham.
I was shocked and saddened to hear that Bobby Wallace has passed away. Here are some old memories from the mid '60s that I would like to share with you. All I can say is... wow, what a flashback. In thinking back to the time we spent with Bobby, what comes to mind is that in spite of his bravado, he was intelligent, kind and generous with his time. It never occurred to me that I might be able to find him after all of these years... my loss. I learned a lot watching Bobby work on cars a debt I have tried to repay by passing along the things he taught me. Then there was Bobby's sense of humor and what some might call his flair for the dramatic. Some of the things I recall were real show stoppers to a kid just out of high school as I was in those days. Once we were watching Bobby work on a Porsche 356 coupe. When Bobby saw mud caked on the suspension and undercarriage of this precision driving machine... he was not amused. After a few choice words, Bobby immediately brought the owner (a doctor I think) out to the shop area and began chewing him out for allowing his car to get into such poor condition and advised him that it was not only unacceptable but should it ever happen again Bobby would never touch the car again. The doctor was apologetic and swore to properly maintain his car in the future and thanked Bobby for bringing it to his attention. A checked his wristwatch... What's=2 0this? His watch had stopped! After some basic winding and shaking, Bobby declared his Timex dead and was irate. After all, the John Cameron Swazey ads on TV claimed repeatedly that a Timex could take a licking and keep on ticking. Bobby felt that this was a clear case of false advertising and the only thing to do was.... This is when Bobby placed the offending timepiece on an anvil and began bashing it flat with a big brass hammer. Once justice was served, Bobby returned to working on the engine with just a hint of a smile on his lips. On another occasion, Bobby bet double or nothing he could replace a clutch throwout bearing in a 64 VW in less than 20 minutes. The rules were established... time starts with the car on the ground in Bobby's garage with tools put away and stops when the car and tools are back in the same position with the new bearing in place. We should have known... Bobby had time to install the bearing and drink a beer before completing the task with minutes to spare. Then there was the time we were celebrating something in Bobby's garage. Maybe it was Saturday night... In any case, it was cold and when we arrived, Bobby had a fire going in an old garbage can for heat. As the night wore on, Bobby decided to do a little housekeeping in the garage in order to feed the fire. First, wood scraps and old rags which burned just fine... then he discovered a cardboard box full of old paint spray cans, some of which were empty... well mostly empty. Others, not so much. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to toss some of the cans in the fire that is now down to embers.. We quickly learned that just before a paint can explodes, there is a loud CLICK as the bottom of the can balloons out. The explosion(s) were loud but harmless untill Bobby decided to kick over the garbage can just before another can went off and sprayed gravel from the alley against Bobby's 356 Cabriolet. We thought it was hilarious. Another time, someone who shall remain nameless, let Bobby drive his souped up VW around Highland Ave. It was a great course with several off camber turns on a tree lined boulevard. I for one believed my old buddy was hands down the fastest man alive on that course.... until Bobby gave us a demo of how it could be done flat out without lifting on any of the turns. I think our initial reaction was something like "Holy Crap! are we still alive?" There are probably more great memories to be released under the influence of alcohol. When that time comes, I will raise a glass to Robert O. Wallace and drink to his memory. Just wish I had a chance to say goodbye. Perhaps we will meet again someday. -Bob Fitzpatrick
Some comments that I found posted on the web about Bobby:
There are only two fears in life, A fear that keeps you alive, And a fear that keeps you from living
If anyone would like to add a photo or make a comment please, just email swallace500@aol.com and I will be glad to include it on this page.
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