Folks around Kansas University’s William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications used to joke they would need to download all of Mary Wallace’s memories to be able to keep their affairs in order after she left, said Ann Brill, the school’s dean.

“When she retired we really teased her about wanting a virtual Mary,” Brill said. “She really was a very smart woman who had a lot of compassion, and those two things make for an incredible human being.”

Mary Wallace

Wallace, a 31-year veteran of the university, died Sunday. She was 78.

“There are a lot of people in the community who will miss her,” Brill said. “They’ll miss her ideas, her presence, her good humor….”

A native of Wayne, Mich., Wallace was born in 1937. She graduated as valedictorian of her high school and worked as the managing editor of the weekly newspaper of her alma mater, the College of William and Mary.

In 1962, Wallace earned a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Michigan. Later that same year she married her husband, Victor Wallace.

Before coming to Kansas University in 1977, Wallace worked as a newspaper reporter for publications in both Michigan and North Carolina. Many of her journalistic skills were put to use long after she stopped reporting, Brill said.

“She was a journalist for a long time,” Brill said. “One of the things that made Mary who she was is that she always did her research.”

At KU, Wallace taught news reporting before becoming the assistant to the dean in 1980. When she became dean of the school in 2004, Brill said Wallace was there to show her the ropes.

During her time in Lawrence, Wallace was actively involved in many organizations around town, Brill said. She was a court-appointed special advocate for a child in foster care and served as a volunteer archivist at the Watkins Community Museum of History and at the Lawrence Humane Society, to name a few causes she gave her time to.

At the museum, Wallace was known to be quite fastidious, said Brittany Keegan, the museum’s curator and collections manager.

“She was great to work with. She was very passionate about the work and making sure everything was organized,” Keegan said. “She was always helping people and went out of her way to make sure people knew what we had in the collections.”

Although Wallace volunteered her time at the museum, Keegan said she treated her work like a full-time job.

Brill also commended Wallace’s tenacity in the workplace, but added she won’t soon forget the qualities that made her a treasured friend.

“Mary was also an incredibly loyal friend,” Brill said. “She always made an effort to be around people and to be with them and to let them know she cared about them.”

Wallace’s life will be celebrated at 2 p.m. May 23 at Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th St.