Wallace, Winnifred Cushing – 1906-1998

CUSHING, OSBORNE, ROLLINS, VAN SANT, WALLACE

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 7/13/2021 at 21:35:34

Winnifred Wallace, Women’s Advocate, dies at 91
On the night she died, Winnifred Cushing Wallace, 91, struggled to sit up in bed. An aide at the nursing home helped her up.
Mrs. Wallace, a former Broadway actress who worked on behalf of Tucson’s women, elderly and disabled, asked her close friend and “adopted” daughter, Alison Hughes, “Do you have 3 dollars? Give that man one of them.”
“He had tears in his eyes,” Hughes said. “She’s dying and she wanted to give the young man a dollar for turning her comfortable. That’s an incredible woman.”
Mrs. Wallace, who died Monday, spent much of her time helping other people.
At age 85, the year before she retired, she urged women lawyers and financial consultants to donate time to the YWCA’s “Women helping Women” program.
From 1980 to 1990, she greeted people at the “Historic Y” building.
“Finally, I think she just couldn’t do it anymore. The Y had to tell her, gently, Winnie, you just can’t’ do it anymore,” said Hughes, a Democratic candidate for City Council who lost to Republican Fred Ronstadt last year.
Mrs. Wallace, born in Colfax, Iowa, in 1906, was a Broadway actress in the 1940’s.
She had a major role in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and worked with Mae West in a production of “Diamond Lil.”
Her acting career ended in 1956, at age 50, when a car accident left her a paraplegic and in a wheelchair.
She moved to Tucson in the early 1970s and edited two newsletters: “Never Too Late,” published by the Pima Council on Aging, and “The Clarion,” published by the Tucson Women’s Commission.
Mrs. Wallace was given a Jefferson Award in the 1970s for her contributions to the community.
“She was an amazing model for differently abled people, for women and for our elders, in particular, because she worked so long and kept such an active interest in society,” Hughes said.
“She always told me she wanted to live to see the new century.”
Mrs. Wallace is survived by five grandchildren, Douglas Van Sant of Reno, Nev., and Joseph Rollins, Steven Van Sant, Linda Van Sant, and David Osborne of Tucson.
Memorial services will begin at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at the YWCA building, 738 N. Fifth Ave. Donations may be made to the Winnifred Wallace Memorial Fund in the YWCA Endowment.
Source: Tucson Citizen; March 26, 1998

Winnifred Cushing Wallace of Tucson passed away March 23, 1998. Born in 1906 in Colfax, Iowa. Broadway actress in the 30’s, having acted as a major character with Lee J. Cobb in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” during the play’s Broadway hit. Her acting career was cut short following an automobile accident at age 50, leaving her a paraplegic and wheelchair bound. She was a model for disabled Americans. For 40 years, she valued her self-sufficiency. She invented a board to heave her body from her automobile seat to her wheelchair, in order to drive herself to work every day. She lived alone, accomplishing all home chores by herself. She moved to Tucson in the early 70’s where she edited “Never Too Late” the newsletter published by the Pima Council on Aging. She next named and edited “The Clarion”, Arizona’s only feminist newspaper as an employee of the Tucson Women’s Commission. Her community contributions brought her a Jefferson award in the late 70’s. From 1980 to 1990, Mrs. Wallace worked for the YWCA’s “Women Helping Women” program. At 80 years old she was still helping women by recruiting lawyers, financial counselors, and career counselors to provide free counseling to women in need. She greeted everyone at the “Historic Y” building where she was housed, as they came for their appointments. She retired from her community work in 1982 and maintained an active interest in the events of the community and the world until her death at the young age of 91. She will be sorely missed by her five grandchildren, Joseph Rollins, Douglas Van Sant, Steven Van Sant, Linda Van Sant, and David Osborne; her six great-grandchildren; and her best friend and confidante for over 20 years, her “other daughter”, Alison Hughes.
Goodbye, beautiful Winnie, goodbye. We shall love you always. We shall appreciate you always. We shall remember you always.
A memorial services will be held at the “Historic YWCA” building, 738 N. 5th Avenue, on Friday, March 27 at 4:30 p.m. Please join friends and family during this celebration of Winnie’s life. In lieu of flowers, it is suggested that donations be made to the Winnifred Wallace Memorial Fund at the YWCA.
Source: Tucson Citizen; April 24, 1998