Sara “Sally” Wallace

Sara Platt Wallace, of Avondale, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on June 27, 2017, at Compassionate Care Hospice in Wilmington, Delaware.

While her family is left heartbroken by the loss of such a beautiful soul, they will be forever grateful for the gift of her love. “Sally,” as she was affectionately known to those childhood raised by her parents, Lucy Williams Platt and Stuart Dean Platt, whom she adored, and shared with her beloved brother, William Popham Platt.

Most of Sally’s younger years were spent living in White Plains, New York and Sharon, Connecticut, with a short stint in Scarsdale, New York.

Sally attended Stratford College in Virginia and went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from the University of Connecticut.
Sally initially attempted a career in teaching which she described quite definitively, as “definitely not for her” and instead tried her hand, quite successfully, as a food writer for The Ladies Home Journal.

She loved living the life of a single girl in New York City in the early 50s. Encouraged by a mutual friend, Sally went to a party and met her husband Bill, with whom she shared nearly 57 years of marriage. It was his command of the ukulele that won her heart.

During their life together, they raised two children, William Henry Wallace, III (Beth) of Wilmington, Delaware, and Susan Clark Wallace of Washington, D.C.
Sally and Bill lived in Delran, New Jersey, Unionville, Pennsylvania and Hayesville, North Carolina. In Sally’s “retirement,” she returned to her love of food writing for a local newspaper while in Hayesville.

Sally made friends wherever she went, possessing that remarkable ability to make others feel special about themselves. She was incredibly humble, deeply kind, quite modest and attentive to etiquette in a way that would have pleased one of her favorites, Emily Post.

Sally’s eyes sparkled whenever she spoke of her rich family history dating back centuries. One of her very favorite stories was that of a lunch visit by General George Washington to her family home in Scarsdale, a guest of her ancestor Major William Popham. She passed down hundreds of stories and kept meticulous records so as to preserve her family’s legacy for her children to treasure throughout their lives.

She enjoyed a robust group of girlfriends with whom she could never pass up an opportunity to enjoy a “girls’ ” lunch at various favorite lunch spots.

Sally was for many years active in the Kennett Presbyterian Church, The Kennett Square Newcomers Club, and The Homesteaders Club. She spent most of her time selflessly caring for her family, always placing their needs before her own, even camping out all night to acquire Genesis tickets for her son and his friends.
She also loved cooking, art, books, the theater, and movies. She was a gentle soul, but spared no feelings when critiquing films! Some her most treasured memories are of days spent at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York where three generations of her family honeymooned, including her son Bill and his wife Beth, who continue to steal away to the “mountaintop” to enjoy the magic!

A true passion for food, in particular decadent desserts, permeated her life; so much so that she passed this love and her talents on to her daughter, now a successful pastry chef in Washington, D.C., using her Mother’s recipes to delight the palates of many a customer. Sally could be frequently overheard sharing her favorite quote, “Fate cannot harm me, for I have dined well tonight.” Mother, we pray that you are dining with the angels. We will love and miss you forever.

Sally is survived by her husband, William H. Wallace, Jr., her daughter, Susan C. Wallace, her son, William H. Wallace, III (Beth), her brother, William P. Platt (Jeanne) and her nieces, Kathy Platt Edgar (Scott) and Susan Platt Sinderson (Doug) and many special friends and acquaintances.

The Wallace family would like to thank the staff at Ivy Gables Assisted Living and Compassionate Care Hospice for their loving care of their mother/wife during the last years and days of her life.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to either the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research or Compassionate Care Hospice of Wilmington, DE.