David Frederick Wallace (January 7, 1900 – September 30, 1957) was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and brother of First Lady of the United States

Bess Truman Elizabeth Virginia Truman (''née'' Wallace; February 13, 1885October 18, 1982) was the wife of President Harry S. Truman and the first lady of the United States from 1945 to 1953. She also served as the second lady of the United States from Ja ...

Early life and education

Wallace was born on January 7, 1900, in

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020, ...

, to parents David Willock Wallace and Margaret Elizabeth Gates. Fred was the youngest of four children, including Elizabeth Virginia "Bess" Wallace, Frank Gates Wallace, and George Porterfield Wallace. His sister Bess married

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

. As the baby boy of the family, Fred Wallace had a very close relationship with his mother. He was known for his love of a good party, and he bore a close resemblance to his father. Fred graduated from

William Chrisman High School William Chrisman High School is a high school located in Independence, Missouri, United States, as part of the Independence School District. History The school was founded in 1888 and was known as Independence High School. The first building was ...

in Independence in 1918. He attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

for two years around 1919-1920, and he joined

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity during his time at the university. By his late 20s, it had become clear that Fred had inherited his father's weakness for liquor. His friends were known to carry him home and leave him on the porch of the family's Independence home after a night of drinking.

Career

Wallace worked as an architect for Kansas City, Missouri, real estate developer

J.C. Nichols Jesse Clyde "J. C." Nichols (August 23, 1880 - February 16, 1950) was an American developer of commercial and residential real estate in Kansas City, Missouri. Born in Olathe, Kansas, and a student at the University of Kansas and Harvard Univer ...

in the 1920s. In 1928 prominent Columbia, Missouri civic leader Frederick W. Niedermeyer selected Wallace to serve as architect for construction of an apartment building in Columbia. Wallace was a fraternity brother of Niedermeyer's youngest son Pierce. The Classical Revival style Frederick Apartments building was completed in 1928 at a cost of approximately $200,000. In May 1928, Jackson County, Missouri voters approved a bond issue that provided funding for a major road project and construction of a new county hospital. Fred was having difficulty maintaining successful employment as an architect, so his sister Bess Truman persuaded Judge Harry Truman to put Fred on the country payroll as an architect supervising construction of the new hospital. Construction of the new hospital was completed in 1930; however, Fred's drinking and general irresponsibility brought difficulty to the project and stress on his family. Judge Truman was quoted as saying "The hospital is up at less cost than any similar institution in spite of my drunken brother-in-law, whom I had to employ on the job to keep peace in the family. I've had to run the hospital job myself and pay him for it." In the 1930s Fred Wallace worked for the architectural firm of

Keene & Simpson Keene & Simpson was an American architectural firm based in Kansas City, Missouri, and in practice from 1909 until 1980. The named partners were architects Arthur Samuel Keene FAIA (1875–1966) and Leslie Butler Simpson AIA (1885–1961). I ...

. In 1931, Jackson County, Missouri voters approved a bond issue that provided funding for several additional projects, including extensive renovations to the

Jackson County Courthouse Jackson County Courthouse may refer to: * Jackson County Courthouse (Arkansas), Newport, Arkansas * Jackson County Courthouse (Georgia), Jefferson, Georgia * Jackson County Courthouse (Florida), Marianna, Florida * Jackson County Courthouse (Illi ...

. Judge Harry Truman tapped the firm of Keene & Simpson to serve as the architect for the courthouse renovation, and ensured that his brother-in-law Fred was designated as the architect for the project. Wallace moved to

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, with his family in 1942, where his brother-in-law Harry Truman assisted in obtaining Fred a position as the regional manager for the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

. Following World War II, the War Production Board was dissolved, and Fred Wallace worked for the architectural firm of T. H. Buell and Co. and then for the

Colorado State Highway Department The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT, pronounced See Dot) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that administers state government transportation responsibilities in the state of Colorado. CDOT is responsible f ...

Personal life

Wallace married Christine Meyer on July 27, 1933, in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

. After the couple was married, Wallace brought his new wife to live in his family home at 219 North Delaware in Independence, Missouri. The Wallace family shared this residence with Harry and Bess Truman until Fred Wallace relocated to Colorado with his family in 1942. Fred and Christine Wallace had three children: David Frederick Wallace, Jr., Marion Wallace, and Charlotte Margaret Wallace. Fred Wallace died at

Porter Hospital Porter Medical Center, also known as Porter Hospital, is a 45-bed critical access hospital located in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded by banker William Henry Porter to serve as a dual community hospital and infirmary to nearby Middlebury College, th ...

, on September 30, 1957. He had been ill with a kidney ailment.

Projects

* 1928 Frederick Apartments, Columbia, Missouri * 1929 Welch Hall/Sigma Alpha Epsilon house renovation, Columbia, Missouri * 1930 Jackson County General Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri * 1932

renovation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, David Frederick 1900 births 1957 deaths 20th-century American architects People from Independence, Missouri University of Missouri alumni Architects from Missouri