Dr. Thomas B. Wallace III, age 71, passed away on July 19, 2023, following a brief illness.

Tom was the son of the late Thomas Barron Wallace II and Peggy Wallace-Webb. He is also preceded in death by his sister, Jaqueline Wallace.

He is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Susan Wallace; one daughter Allison Wallace VanCamp and husband, Griffin VanCamp; sister, Candy Wallace Ferris and husband, Wayne Ferris of Washington State. Candy Ferris’ children, his nephew, Garrick Swartz of Johnson City and niece, Meghan Evans and husband, Robert Evans; Susan’s niece, Susan Whittaker Ballard and husband, Heath Ballard of Columbia, TN; as well as several great nieces and nephews.

Tom Wallace was a member of Rhea Lodge #47 and a past master. He served the lodge for many years faithfully as its secretary. He was a 32-degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of all the York Rite Bodies where he also served as Secretary of Washington Chapter for several years and a member of the Royal Order of Scotland.

Tom through the masons was a member of the Jericho Shrine as their publicity chairman. Tom was the Pipe Major, secretary and spokesman for the Jericho Highlanders Pipe Band and was a former secretary for the South Atlantic Shrine Highlanders. As a member of the Jericho Shrine, he was the Master of Ceremonies for the Jericho Shrine annual Circus.

Other activities include President of Clan Wallace Society International for nine years during the time the movie Braveheart was release and premiered at Hollywood Paramount Studios. As president he and his wife were invited to attend this premier at Paramount Studios.

Tom served as Worship Leader of St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church praying community for 14 years in Jonesborough. He and his wife Susan are devout Christians and have served this community well.

Tom earned his master’s degree and Doctorate in education from East Tennessee State University. He is a retiree from Northeast State Community College after serving the school for 40 years as a former faculty member and Director of Academic Technology.

A Masonic and Memorial Service will be held at 6:00 PM, Saturday, July 29, 2023, at Dillow-Taylor Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers and food, please make donations to Shriners Children's Hospital, 950 W. Faris Road, Greenville, SC 29605

A Letter from Tom's friend:

I originally met Tom Wallace in November of 2007. I had just recently been hired and was walking through the hallways and saw a fairly heavy set guy, up on a ladder, with his head in the ceiling. I stopped in the classroom and asked if he needed any help. He poked his head out of the ceiling and in a voice that I came to love and appreciate his first response was, “Who are you!”. I told him I had just recently been hired to work in IT and I was a new technician. His response was priceless at the time, “Well they obviously have not warned you about me, and unless you want to get into trouble you should just keep going” I simply said well I am happy to help, trouble or not. The wry smile on his face told me plenty and he said, “help me pull this wire through the ceiling then!”
I got to know Tom quite well over the years following this initial encounter and I owe my mindset and knowledge to his words of wisdom. I still hear these words today and they serve me well. While some faculty thought Tom didn’t like them due his gruff nature and voice at times, the real truth is the faculty were the most important thing to him next to the students at Northeast State. Tom said to me many times, “Faculty are the most underserved population! We need to support them, because they take care of the students better than anyone else”
Tom was instrumental in creating the first online courses for Northeast State Community College, among many other things. The day I met him he was running cables in a classroom for the new microphones he had acquired, that would ensure no matter where a faculty member was speaking from in the classroom, their voice would be captured loud and clear. This would ensure when students were reviewing their lecture recordings and classroom instruction, there would be no question in what they said. As always, Tom always wanted the latest and greatest technology for faculty. His commitment to continued research, on a daily basis, was all to ensure they had the best tools in the classroom to do what they did best, TEACH!
While Tom was instrumental in most of the newest technology on campus, he was also involved on many committees, serving faculty and students to no end. Tom’s office, often referred to as a “Fall-Out Shelter” was not a hangout but a place of knowledge, technology and if you were lucky enough highly intuitive wisdom was often spoken lightly in that office. If you were fortunate to stay long enough, you would never leave unimpressed or without carrying a piece of the latest tech to assist you in your endeavors.
Tom as one of the best men I have known in my life. He taught me how to clean and tune bagpipes. How to be a good leader. Most importantly he taught me, “How to think and what to think about”. A often overlooked highly critical factor when it comes to education. Oftentimes most students might take this as an insult, someone trying to tell them how to think or what to think about, but Tom was one of the best teachers I have ever known. He was a good friend and patriot.
I will always cherish the time I got to spend with Tom, and the lunches we had. Susan, Tom’s wife, who joined us at lunch from time to time is an incredible lady. Tom always spoke very highly of his wife, except when she was with us at lunch, oftentimes wining about his honey to do list. There was never a moment I got to spend with Tom that I did not thoroughly enjoy.
I could watch and listen to Tom send someone scurrying out of his office on a mission, only to look over at me and smile with that same wry smile he gave me the first time I met him. I was fortunate enough to be promoted to a position in Tom’s office. After Tom retired I would often hear faculty tell me that I, “picked up Tom’s shoes and was doing a great job…” My response to them is no, I never picked up Tom’s shoes, Tom crafted me a pair of my shoes and then told me how to wear them! Tom use to tell everyone in administration it would take 5 people to replace him, and to this day I would argue it would take 10! When he found out I was being considered for his position, he called the vice-president at the time, Fred Lewis and said, “So you found those 5 people I told you about that it would take to replace me” Fred’s response was somewhat puzzled and questioning and Tom told him, “Mike is those 5 people I was talking about”.
Tom did so much and was instrumental in helping Northeast State not only grow technology wise, but he helped faculty in so many ways, personally and professionally in their endeavors. I will greatly miss Tom but I know without a doubt he is on a new adventure, in a better place!