Funeral Serice for David Wallace
Tuesday, 23rd October, 2024
Minister: John Johnstone
David Alexander Wallace was born in Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on the 30th of October 1978 to Alexander and Margaret Wallace. He had a big sister Marnie and a younger brother Ben.
David had a happy childhood. The family moved to Bahrain when David was 4. Back then, David had a mass of blonde curls. In Bahrain, he attended Mrs Flowers infant school and then St Christopher’s, an Anglican primary school. The family returned to Dundee in 1985, and David had fond memories of attending Glebelands Primary School. Tragedy struck, with David’s father passing away when David was just 8. Following that event, the family moved to the Bridge of Don in Aberdeen. When David was 14, they moved once more, this time to Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire; however, he still went to Oldmachar Academy in Aberdeen with his mum or dad driving him in every day. This is where he met his good friend Simon, who also lived in Mintlaw and also went to Oldmachar. Whilst attending Oldmacher Academy, David had a teacher called Mr Gibb. David liked him for two reasons: he ran the chess club and chess became a passion for David, but also because this teacher saw great potential in David, which gave him much encouragement.
Upon leaving school, David spent 3 years at Banff and Buchan College studying computing. During this time, he met another of his good friends, Stewart. The two instantly clicked forming what Stewart would describe as a bromance! He then went to Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, where he excelled, studying Computing to degree level, and graduating in 2005, making his mother Margaret very proud. Here, David found his true vocation, being an exceptional database administrator.
Between College and Uni, David had several short-term jobs, before finding his niche in databases. He worked in a fish factory in Fraserburgh and he also worked for the Branston Pickle factory in Peterhead. For Branston, David had the very important role of maintaining hygiene in the factory, including sweeping up the dead wasps which whilst alive, were attracted to the sugar. For the first few months, David’s practice was to discard them down a particular shute; however, he was forced to reconsider when a colleague noticed, explaining to David that this particular shute went directly into the pickle mix. So, if you ever ate Branston Pickle in the late 1990s, perhaps you ate some of David’s wasps.
David’s move away from the food industry and into IT was a turning point in his life. A new manager at Oil Tools had inherited huge problems from a previous manager, They really were in a pickle. The manager took a chance on this young graduate David and never regretted it. The manager, who would become David’s close friend Robert, explained the multiple problems within the company’s system and tasked David with helping. David didn’t just help. He built a new system for the company, seeing solutions where others could not. David was a highly talented analyst.
In 2013, David took the plunge into online dating, something which a certain Lorraine Walker had also done. With dates including a trip to Balmoral Castle, the comedy club and a Spanish tapas restaurant, love and friendship blossomed. Even at an early stage, Lorraine said that it did not really feel like dating but friendship because they enjoyed deep and heartfelt conversation together. They were engaged in December 2013 and married in Bennochy Parish Church here in Kirkcaldy on the 18th of October 2014. Adam was born in June 2016, with Joey arriving on the exact same day, 3 years later in 2019. A few weeks before he died, David said to me, ‘Lorraine gave me the happiest years of my life and two lovely boys’.
In the early years of marriage, David and Lorraine loved heading off in the car for an adventure, never being quite sure where they might end up. For example, they set off with a notion of doing the north coast 500, but after a four-hour detour ended up in the Isle of Skye instead! On such trips they relished the beauty of Scottish scenery as well as good food at their lunch stops. David and Lorraine also enjoyed walking around Edinburgh together, and going out for a drink or a meal out.
David often spoke about how proud he was of his boys, Adam and Joey. During lockdown, David pitched a tent in the garden, and would spend his lunch break having a packed lunch with Adam in the tent. In the evenings he would play football with Adam in the garden. David loved gardening, and had his very own gardening assistant. His name was Joey, and he had his own set of mini gardening tools, so if David had a fork out, Joey would be there with his fork too. David also liked playing Lego with the boys and playing Streetfighter with Adam on the Nintendo.
What kind of person was David? His mother Margaret describes him as extremely intelligent, with a strong memory for facts and knowledgeable about many subjects, not least the Bible. For Margaret, what shone through was David’s kindness and devotion to God. For Lorraine, David was a generous, kind and loving husband, who would do anything for anybody, often taking the burdens of others onto himself, sometimes to a fault. He was meticulous; everything had to be done ‘just so’. Perhaps that’s why he was so skilled in IT! David worked for Trainline from 2014-2016 and then for Spark Energy (which became Ovo) from 2016 onwards.
In December 2022, David began to experience significant pain and sadly in January 2023 cancer was discovered. He fought the disease bravely for nearly 2 years, finally ending up in the Victoria Hospice, where he received excellent care. During these 2 years, David and Lorraine and the boys made many happy memories together, including a trip to Haggerston Castle. Of course, David had his ups and downs, and never wanted to leave his boys without their dad. However, even in sickness, he still enjoyed debating current affairs and spending time with Lorraine and Adam and Joey and his wider family and friends too. That meant so much to him.
In the hospice, David showed me the inscription on his Bible. It read: ‘Born again on the 27th of October 1997’. I asked him what happened on that day. He said that during the night he woke up and became acutely aware of the weight of his own sin. He thought: ‘You did these things David, and you can’t just forget about them.’ David had been taught by his mother Margaret that if you trust in Jesus, he will forgive you, so David did just that. He prayed to God, sincerely apologising for his wrongdoings, knowing he needed to be cleansed by God. He knew that everything had to change and that he had to live for God and not for himself. That night, David was born again.
David passed away on Sunday the 13th of October, peacefully and with his family at his side. He is greatly missed by his wife Lorraine, his 2 boys Adam and Joey, his parents and siblings and family and friends, and his church family too. We are thankful to the Lord for his life, and for all he meant to his family and friends. We are greatly comforted that he is now with his Redeemer in Heaven, and that an eternity of joy is just beginning.