Helen Frances Bogdon Wallace, 1896-1969
Maternal grandfather’s sister
Helen Bogdon was the sister of my maternal grandfather, Albert Edward Bogdon. Like her brother, she found a way to rise above her humble background to a position of great respect and prestige in her community.
Helen was born on August 30, 1896, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, about 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Her brother Albert was born five and a half years earlier on February 19, 1891, in Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County, in east-central Pennsylvania. All we know about their parents is that they were immigrants from Poland, then a part of Russia. Their father, William Bogdon, born in 1870, was Russian. Their mother, Anna Kirklis, born in 1864, was of Lithuanian descent. By 1900, the Bogdon family had relocated to a section of Pittsburgh called Homestead.
By the time Helene was eight years old, her fourteen-year-old brother Albert had already begun pursuing a career as a magician. Precocious and clever Albert found ways to purchase the proper costumes and magic equipment, advertise in magic and other theatrical trade publications, and was even able to obtain gigs in vaudeville circuits.
Helen, however, was not interested in show business. She was more attracted to medicine and set her sights on becoming a nurse. Not long after high school, she entered nursing school. Family photos show her proudly wearing her nursing uniforms, very likely taken soon after graduation.
Helen met her future husband, Dr. Hugh Stanley Wallace (1896-1950), when they worked together in the same hospital in Pittsburgh. Hugh was the son of a prominent family of Ingram, an affluent suburb of Pittsburgh. Hugh’s father was Dr. William Campbell Wallace I (1863-1931), who had already practiced medicine for many years. Helen and Hugh married in 1922. They moved to Ingram, which they made their permanent home, while Hugh continued his practice in his Pittsburgh Hospital.
Helen and Albert remained close siblings regardless of their age difference and the fact that he was frequently away performing. Albert brought his first wife Edithe (my maternal grandmother) and baby Sally (my mother) from Oakland, California, to Pittsburgh to meet his mother and sister in 1912. Albert and Edithe did not remain married long. Helen met up with Albert again in Washington, D.C. in 1919 with her doctor boyfriend. Albert had just been discharged from the navy, had married his second wife, Adele, and had another baby, Violet, before moving to Denver, Colorado, to practice law. Helen also attended Albert’s funeral in Denver in 1927 after his fateful shooting by a jealous husband.
Hugh and Helen adopted two children, a son born on March 14, 1929, whom they named William Campbell Wallace II after Hugh’s father, and a daughter, Helen Frances Wallace (often called Fanny), born on October 5, 1932. Helen was active in local social activities, in particular the Women’s Club of Ingram. She held several offices in this club over the years and was eventually elected president. The following newspaper article reveals the richness of her life in the middle of 1933.
HELEN BOGDON – ARTICLE, 1933 | Pittsburgh Press, Sunday, July 2, 1933, Page 20
COMBINES HOME AND COMMUNITY INTERESTS
Club Leader Says Contacts Return Family Benefits
Finds Easy System To Serve Home And Civic Groups
Achievements of Mrs. H. Stanley Wallace of Ingram, prove that it isn’t particularly difficult for a young matron to supervise a household, care for two small children, lead community welfare drives and, incidentally, find time to become president of an active woman’s club. It is all a very simple matter – for one who lacks neither poise, ability nor executive skill.
Before she takes the office of president of the Woman’s Club of Ingram in the early autumn, Mrs. Wallace will spend two months touring European countries, while her husband, Dr. H. Stanley Wallace, is taking post-graduate work at the University of Vienna. Sailing July 12, together, they will tour Germany and France. Then, while her husband is studying in Austria for a period of six weeks or more, Mrs. Wallace will visit Switzerland and Italy. They will return to the United States in early September.
While she is a member of no club other than the one which recently elected her to its highest office, this newest president is always an active worker in any civic or community welfare drive launched in Ingram. More than one hundred dollars was realized in the Salvation Army campaign in May, conducted in the Borough under Mrs. Wallace’s supervision. Projects for the aid of the unemployed also claim her interest. For diversion, she turns to the activities of the Women’s Medical Society Auxiliary and the Eastern Star Chapter. She also finds time to play golf with her husband.
At present, Mrs. Wallace is looking forward to the Ingram Club’s program for the coming season. Stressing scholarship as one of the club’s chief philanthropies, its new president is already contemplating ways and means of swelling the club fund to guarantee an Ingram girl a college education.
Mrs. Wallace has little sympathy with young women who believe it is their duty to devote their entire time to the family circle – particularly if there are small children in the household.
“I cannot see that the exclusion of interests outside the family circle are of any particular benefit to one’s family,” she said recently. “Certainly in the present day, it is necessary to keep abreast of the times. The broad contacts and experiences involved make for knowledge and better understating of child training – and a richer home life. To successfully combine home and community interests is simply a matter of system!”
When Hugh and Helen came back from Europe, they returned to their life in Ingram and later moved to Mt. Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, about eight miles south of Ingram. Their children went to college: William majored in environmental life sciences at the University of Rhode Island, while Helen attended Sullins College and Carnegie Institute of Technology (Carnegie Tech) and then went on to the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.
On November 10, 1950, the head of the family, Dr. Hugh Stanley Wallace, died of a cerebral hemorrhage (a type of stroke) at the age of 54. At the time, he was in general medical practice in Ingram as well as serving on the staff of Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. In his will, he donated his eyes to the local eye bank. Within a few months of his death, transplants of his corneas helped restore the eyesight of two of its donor recipients. Meantime, Helen was left alone to care for her family. She continued with her life and social activities in both Mt. Lebanon and Ingram.
Three years later, on August 8, 1953, Helen’s son William Campbell Wallace II married Barbara Foulk Morrison, born on January 10, 1930, from Mt. Lebanon, and graduated from Carnegie Tech. After marriage, they made their home in Saunderstown, Rhode Island and later moved about 8 miles southwest to Wakefield, Rhode Island. In 1954, while William was still in college, he founded a company called Wallace Tree Service in Wakefield, a small company (that he and his wife Barbara continue to run to this day). William graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1955. They had a son on June 24, 1958, William Campbell Wallace III.
On July 9, 1955, Helen’s daughter Helen Frances married Harry S. Fry. Harry was born on May 11, 1929, and was from Avalon, a residential borough of Pittsburgh. Fry was a Lieutenant in the Navy, who graduated from Carnegie Tech and majored in engineering. The couple chose to live in Philadelphia after marriage but later moved to the San Diego, California, area.
Death hit the Wallace family again. This time it was their mother, Helen Frances Wallace, who died in her home at age 71 on February 9, 1969, in Mt. Lebanon. She was buried in Allegheny Memorial Park Cemetery. According to her will, she left an estate of close to $150,000.
Sadly, it was mother Helen’s own daughter, Helen Frances (Fanny) Fry, who was next to pass away, on October 21, 1981. She was only 49. After having moved to the San Diego area, she gave birth to three children, Helen Brenda, Howard Wallace, and Thomas Allen. At the time of her death, she owned Unique Retirement Home, in nearby Escondido, and was also a member of the Board of Registered Nurses. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered off nearby Point Loma.
On November 20, 1994, another family marriage took place. William Campbell Wallace III married Shelia Marie Heavy, whose family was from the Newport, Rhode Island, area. When they married, she was working as a public relations editor for Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, while William continued as a foreman in his family’s Wallace tree Service company. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in divorce, and there were no children. William continues to work in the family business and has not remarried.
The latest reported event in the Wallace family history was the death of Helen’s daughter’s husband, Harry S. Fry on January 13, 2013, at the age of 83. Harry’s wife, Helen Frances (Fanny) had already died 32 years earlier. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obituary, January 19, 2013, lists Harry’s children as Helen Brenda, Howard Wallace, and Thomas Allen, as well as four grandchildren, Phillip, Anna, Allen, and Aaron. Harry was buried in Uniondale Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
Helen with her two adopted children, William and Helen.
William Campbell Wallace II
At age 93, still at work servicing trees.
Graduation photo University of Rhode Island 1955.
