William “Wallace” Weeks, 90, went home to be with the Lord, Monday, December 30, 2013. Wallace was surrounded by family when he passed peacefully.
William Wallace was born in Holly Hill, Florida on June 13, 1923 to Ollie Chester Weeks and Alice Onnolee Brown Weeks. His Mother passed away when he was 2 years old and his father passed away when Wallace was 8 years old. His Grandparents, Willie Baxter Weeks and Annie Osteen Weeks raised him in Bulow, and he attended school in Ormond Beach, Florida.
At 9 years old, Wallace worked on a delivery route where he drove his Grandmother across Flagler County delivering Watkins products and produce from their Family garden. He occasionally made deliveries to the Hamilton Household on County Road 305 (West of Bunnell), where unbeknownst to him, his future wife (6 ½ years his junior) was toddling around in diapers.
During WWII, Wallace, then 19, owned a restaurant called “Mother’s Diner” and had a job winding electric motors. After leaving Jacksonville, he returned to Bulow, where he worked several different jobs from being a Fisherman to a refrigerator repairman at Cox Appliance in Daytona, Florida and had a love for racing “jalopy” race cars on Daytona Beach.
In 1946, Wallace formally met Leotah “Margaret” Hamilton, whom he courted for 2 years and even rode 20+ miles by horseback from Bulow to County Road 305 to see her. They married June 26th, 1948 and together they had two children: Margaret “Elaine” Weeks (born 7/15/56) and Duane William Weeks (born 5/1/58). Wallace later moved on professionally as a substitute United States Mail Carrier and even delivered a baby on a mail route one afternoon. Wallace later gained employment with the United States Government as Chairman of the Soil Conservation Board. In 1958, Wallace moved his family to Ocala, Florida where he served as a Livestock Inspector specializing in screw worm eradication for two years.
Once the Government projects ceased, he moved his family back to Bunnell and started a refrigeration repair service, where he was the only refrigeration technician in the county for many years. In 1969, Wallace became a Farm Manager at Flagler County Farms where he grew several hundred acres of cabbage and potatoes, as well as managed the Farm Operations. In the Summers, Wallace would deliver shrimp boats from St. Augustine where they were built to the Caribbean Islands and Mexico. He retired in 1986 at the age of 64.
Wallace always stayed busy after retirement with woodworking in his garage, traveling with his wife, his regularly (weekly) scheduled adventures with his dear friend, Mr. Lloyd Robertson, tending his orange trees, hybrid fruit trees and flowers, growing Minorcan datil peppers, sharing his wealth of knowledge in experiences, family and local history with everyone he met, fishing and riding his 8 grandchildren,10 great-grandchildren, family, friends and neighbors that came to visit, around on his “mud swamper”, log jumping, golf cart.
He is survived by his wife of 65 ½ years of marriage, Leotah “Margaret” Hamilton Weeks, a daughter, Margaret “Elaine” Weeks O’Kane (Wayne O’Kane), a son, Duane William Weeks Sr. (Kimberle Barzelogna Weeks), 8 Grandchildren: Harry Rowan Palmer Jr. “Butch” (Wynette Palmer), Crystal Elaine Palmer, Jeffrey Daryl Palmer, Duane William Weeks Jr., Michelle Onnalee Weeks Taylor (Carl Taylor), Tamara Yvonne Weeks Prevatt, Dale Wallace Weeks, Robert James Weeks, and 10 great-Grandchildren: Courtney Sierra Palmer, Rebekah “Reba” Lynn Wood, Preston Michael Palmer, Natalie Renee Weeks, Austin Duane Weeks, Cain William Taylor, Caleb Ryan Prevatt, Logan Scott Taylor, Alexis Yvonne Prevatt, Camille Onnalee Taylor and her twin brother, Lucas Carl Taylor, numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, and cousins.
Viewing and Visitation is scheduled for Friday, January 3rd 2013, from 12 p.m.-1 p.m., at the First Baptist Church of Bunnell located at 2301 Commerce Parkway Bunnell, FL (600 ft. off of Moody Blvd/SR 100). Funeral Services will begin at 1 p.m. and Interment will immediately follow at Flagler Memorial Gardens (Hope Cemetery) located at 511 Old Kings Road, South, Flagler Beach, Florida. Family and Friends are invited to return to First Baptist Church of Bunnell Fellowship Hall, for a Celebration of Life Reception in honor of William Wallace Weeks.
Funeral Arrangements are under the direction of Johnson-Overturf Funeral Home, Palatka, Florida.
Michelle Weeks Taylor says
My Grandfather was an extraordinary man and he will be greatly missed. He was a true historian, with nearly a century’s worth of stories, experiences and history surrounding Flagler and Volusia Counties. There was never a dull moment with Grandpappy, and he was always on the go, and typically ran circles around all of the grandchildren. On his 80th birthday, he sat backwards on the handle bars of a bicycle and pedaled up and down his drive way. At one point, I can even remember him riding a unicycle. :) He had a great sense of humor and loved to amaze people with the rich stories that he shared about the “good old days” and antique family heirlooms and mementos he collected throughout the years. Grandpa experienced a lot of change throughout the decades, and as children, we would love to sit and listen to his stories about the old Model A and Model T trucks, and survival in the days of no air conditioners, computers,cell phones or televisions. There is no doubt that Grandpa is smiling down on all of us now, and getting a kick out of hearing all these stories about him.
Anonymous says
A fine man that left a lot of memories in the hearts and minds of those left behind. Wallace was quite the historian for Flagler County. RIP…you will be missed.
livesinpalmcoast says
I did not know him but it sounds like he was a wonderful man. May God keep him and hold him in the Palm of His Hand.
He will be watching over his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
Louie Mercer says
He was a fine man. He taught me how to use a knife and me and Duane were very good friends. Mr. Weeks took me to the creek with Duane when we were young. I love the entire family. Louie Mercer