Barbara Prince Wallis completed her baptismal journey on May 31, 2022. She was born November 11, 1928, in Northampton, Massachusetts. She grew up in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, graduating from Northampton High School in 1947. Barbara attended the Stoneleigh-Burnham Preparatory School the following year, and graduated from Westfield State Teacher’s College in 1952. During her 45 years of teaching elementary school, she also completed a Master’s of Education degree from Leslie College. She continued to substitute teach frequently for several more years before fully retiring.
Barbara "Pixie" met her husband Sam during her postgraduate year at the Stoneleigh-Burnham School. They married in 1953 in Victoria, Texas while Sam was in the Air Force. After completing his degree at Dartmouth College, Pixie and Sam lived in East Aurora, New York, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Cape Elizabeth, Maine, before settling in Sudbury, Massachusetts. There they raised their young family until 1985, when they restored and moved to the family home on Lobster Cove in Annisquam, Massachusetts.
Pixie always brought great vision and creativity to all her activities and engagements. She instituted a history program for children to recreate the classroom of the Revolutionary War period for a week each year at the Little Red Schoolhouse. This one-room school house is on the historical property created by Henry Ford around Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, where she and Sam would frequently serve as host and hostess. Pixie was a participant in local garden clubs, had beautiful gardens around her homes, was an avid bridge player, and was heavily involved with the local libraries of her communities. In the Sudbury school system, Pixie served for numerous years as an officer, then President of the Teacher’s Union.
In the Village of Annisquam, where Pixie and Sam retired, Pixie was involved with the Local Exchange, performed with the community theater, served as President of the Lighthouse Land Trust, and participated in numerous other organizations. Upon moving to Fairview, Texas in 2004, Pixie became involved with the Allen, Texas (Chapter IH) of the PEO Society. At Heritage Ranch, she was a Ranchette, performed in variety shows, participated in the Travel Club, and served as President of the Garden Club.
Pixie is survived by her daughter, Sally Prince Andriot of Plano, Texas; sons, Gregory Tad of College Station, Texas and David Norcross of Abilene, Texas; spouses, Don Andriot, Michele Wallis, and Janna Wallis; grandchildren, Kelsey (Purcell), Kailey (Quine), and Jamie Andriot; Raquel (Byers); Abigail (Gillette), Sarah (Kruse), and Abraham Wallis; and great grandchildren, Emerson Jane Quine; Joanna Marie Byers; Jackson Boone Gillette and Sloane Adex Kruse.
In lieu of flowers, please consider sending contributions on behalf of Barbara P. Wallis to Cottey College at https://cottey.edu/give/. Pixie was a member of the IH Chapter of the PEO Sisterhood, and they actively support this all-women’s college of higher education.