Cornelia Shepherd Porter Wallace

On Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, Cornelia Shepherd Porter Wallace, or Shep, as everyone who loved her knew her, passed peacefully from this world at FirstHealth Hospice House, in Pinehurst.

The youngest child of John and Mary Porter, she was born on Sept. 28, 1934, in Rockingham. She lived in Rockingham for the entirety of her childhood, and graduated from Rockingham High School in 1952. Following this, she attended Coker University in Hartsville, S.C., graduating with a B.A. in education in 1956. She taught elementary and middle school in Oxford and Rockingham for several years.

In 1965, she married the love of her life, Mitchell Warren Wallace, DDS, who had also grown up in Rockingham, but was living in Fayetteville, and practicing in Spring Lake. After marrying, Mitchell and Shep built a life in Fayetteville, raising their two daughters, Cornelia and Mary Lillie, there. She was a member of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, the Col. Robert Rowan Chapter of the DAR, the North Carolina Dental Auxiliary, and the Fayetteville Junior League.

Shep was preceded in death by her parents, John W. Porter and Mary Benton Porter, of Rockingham; her beloved husband, Mitchell Warren Wallace, of Fayetteville; her dear sister, Louisa “Lou” Love Porter Presler, of Laurinburg; and her dear brother, John W “Jack” Porter, of Lake Worth, Fla.

She is survived by her two daughters, Cornelia Wallace Morris (Walter), of Southern Pines, and Mary Lillie Wallace Monti (Channing), of Frederick, Md. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren, Mary Mitchell Morris, of Atlanta, Maimie Monti Draper (Harrison), of Los Angeles, George Franklin Morris, of Dallas, and Cornelia Ann “Nealy” Monti, of Baltimore. Further, Shep is survived by many nieces and nephews who deeply loved Aunt Shep, as well as numerous cherished friends.

This is just the outline of her life and, like many other obituaries, it doesn’t tell you who Shep Wallace was. Who she was is such a force that it won’t fit in the lines allotted to the dead. For example, Shep Wallace was the absolute essence of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. She walked each day hand-in-hand with her Lord, reading Our Daily Bread and her well-worn Bible every morning at her kitchen table on Skye Drive, and praying for all that were in her heart and on her list. Her faith was child-like and steadfast, and there is no doubt that she is now sitting at the feet of her Savior, who welcomed Shep with “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

To her husband, she was the best surprise of his life. Mitchell met Shep when he was 36 and she was almost 30. He never thought he would marry, but when his brother, Bill, and her sister, Lou, set them up on a blind date, he knew he had met the love of his life. He quickly married her, and found in her an independent woman who would be his partner and best friend. She ran not only his house, but also the business side of his successful dental practice. She leaned on him only for his love, and lightened his already heavily burdened shoulders. He adored her, and she him, and after he died in 1994, she never looked for anyone else. Mitchell was it for her.

To her daughters, Shep was the epitome of resilience, strength and faith. She taught them to pray unceasingly, and to believe that love for the Lord and humankind would sustain them through all circumstances. She also taught them to always have their own checking accounts if they got married, and to have a car in their name because “you never know.” When the worst of times hit the Wallaces of Skye Drive, Shep showed her girls how to hold their heads up, and face whatever was coming at them with grace. Her advice on everything, from the order of mixing wet and dry ingredients when baking a cake to dealing with a recalcitrant teenage child, was impeccable and sought by Cornelia and Mary Lillie till the day she passed.

To her precious grandchildren, Shep was “Mawmaw.” She was the maker of the best pancakes, the organizer of trips to Tiny Town for shoes, The Disney Store for costumes, and Krispy Kreme for “Hot Nows.” She was the boss of their mothers, and the encourager of their dreams. Mawmaw was their biggest fan, and they all knew it.

There are many other lovely details that could be shared here about Shep Wallace, like how she loved college sports, chocolate, books, New York City, Broadway musicals, Neil Diamond, Bergdorf Goodman, the Nordstrom Cafe, and all of God’s furry creatures. She became more liberal in her world view the older she got and believed that no matter who you were, or who you loved, or where you came from, you are worthy and should be in charge of your own life and afforded the opportunity to make that life wonderful. We were lucky to have her while we did. May we endeavor to live up to her belief in us.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Fayetteville Family Life Center, 114 Highland Ave., Fayetteville NC, 28305 ( www.fayfamlife.org).