Sharlyn 'Tod' Wallace, 71

TOPEKA, Kan. - Sharlyn "Tod" Wallace, of Topeka, passed away Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, in Topeka following a struggle with cancer. She was 71. She was born July 31, 1937, in Topeka the daughter of Ernest and Virginia Jenkins Lesser. As a child she lived in the Jay Street community of North Topeka where she attended Lyman Grade School through the eighth grade, graduating in 1951. As a student at Lyman and before the adoption of Title IX, which gave women equal opportunities in sports competition in schools, she played basketball and softball county wide as well as playing on other community teams. She played basketball for several years for the Santa Fe Streamliners and softball for the D-X Juniors and later for the Ohse Meats Woman's team. The Ohse team was well known for its accomplishments state wide, regionally and nationally. In 1951, the family was devastated by the flood. In September of that year, they moved to a new home in the Rochester Community and Sharlyn started to high school at Seaman. In her senior year, she was president of the Student Council, editor of the school newspaper (the Clipper) and graduated as salutatorian of the class of 1955. In the fall of 1955, she enrolled at Emporia State University and received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Education in 1959. On June 21, 1959, she married Daniel Lee Wallace of Honga, Md. They moved to their new home in Topeka where they have lived nearly 50 years. She was a teacher at Washburn Rural High School and Jay Shideler Jr. High School. In 1959, she left teaching to join her husband in their own photography business, Wallace Photography. Working as a team, they photographed several thousand weddings, tens of thousands of portraits and commercial assignments, and over a thousand projects to restore old photographs. Two of their most enjoyable clients were Topeka Civic Theatre and the Kansas Teacher of the Year Program. At TCT they photographed and archived over 275 productions and with the inception of digital imaging designed and created over 100 original theatre posters. Sharlyn and Dan were inducted into the TCT Hall of Fame in 2008. The Wallaces also operated a photography lab, Wallace Color Service, where they did all of their own processing as well as processing for other professionals in the area. This business also hosted nationally known educators in the photography field. Sharlyn was instrumental in the formation of the original Topeka Professional Photographers Association in the 1960's and served as president. She also worked to establish the Kansas Professional Photographers School in the 1980's. She was a member of the Kansas Professional Photographers Association, served as president in 1994 and 1995, and holds the Kansas National Award and the Centurion Fellowship Award for service. She was a member of the Heart of America Professional Photographers Association and holds its Distinguished Service Award. She was a member of the Professional Photographers of America, a Certified Professional Photographer and holds their Photographic Craftsman's Degree. When PPofA established the CPP program, Sharlyn served as executive secretary for Kansas. In 1966, she worked on a committee to establish The Seaman High School Historical Society and served as its President from then until the present. The SHSHS is a Kansas not-for-profit corporation that operates a Museum at the Education Center where they catalog and display items of Seaman memorabilia from over 80 years of history, publish a biannual newsletter "The Viking Voyager" and administer an endowment fund to provide college scholarships to graduating Seaman seniors each spring. She is survived by her mother, Virginia Lesser of Topeka; her beloved husband, Dan of the home; two brothers, William "Bill" Lesser (Vicki) and Darryl "Dode" Lesser (Elsie) of Topeka; one nephew, Michael Lesser (Erin), and children, Ashley, Dylan, Parker and Lauren of Topeka; four nieces, Laura Del Toro (Felix), and children, William and Amanda of Hoyt, Lisa Lesser, and Christa Yingling, (Brandon), and children, Jaidyn and Brooklyn of Topeka, and Tiffany and her husband, David Swinehart of Kansas City, Mo. Funeral services will be today, Feb. 20, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. at the Davidson Funeral Home. She will lie in state Thursday from noon to 9 p.m. with visitation from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Davidson Funeral Home. Burial will be at the Rochester Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sharlyn and Daniel Wallace Scholarship c/o Dorothy Miller, Treasurer or the Seaman High School Historical Society, 100 N.W. 35th St., Topeka 66607.