George Wallace Hook Jr.  went to be with his Lord and Savior on September 17, 2024. He was born on April 19, 1938, in Manassas, VA. Wallace graduated from Osbourn High School in Manassas where he excelled in all varsity sports, being named twice to the All-District Football and All County Basketball teams. He also served as President of the Student Council. He met his wife Sylvia Ellison Light of Aldie, VA at Osbourn High School in eighth grade. They were married at the historic Sudley Methodist Church on August 31, 1957.  Reverend James Duley performed the ceremony. They celebrated sixty-seven years of marriage this year.

Wallace graduated from Bridgewater College with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and minors in Sociology and Psychology. They moved to Manassas, VA. after graduation and spent the next eight years raising their family of four children on North Main Street.  He was a member of the Manassas Volunteer Fire Department, Manassas Kiwanis Club and was a Washington Redskins season ticket holder.

Wallace joined the National Electrical Contractor's Association (NECA) in 1969 and was assigned to the Midwest Regional Office in Saint Paul, MN. In those early years, Wallace was an instructor for over twenty different NECA sponsored seminars. He mediated and resolved countless grievances and negotiations throughout the Midwest region, faithfully serving all twenty-two chapters.

In the late 1980s, he began working directly with the Northern Indiana Chapter of NECA in Michigan City, IN. He did so for the next twenty-six years. During that tenure, Wallace served on the negotiating committee with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW Locals 153, 531 and 697. He was a strong advocate for the NECA/IBEW Apprenticeship Program which provides fulfilling careers for veterans, women, minorities and high school graduates that want to work right away. He was a trustee on a regional benefit trust fund and was the chairman of a large health and welfare fund covering workers from Indiana to Florida.

In 2011, Wallace was bestowed the NECA District IV Electrical Industry Man of the Year Award.  Wallace was awarded in 2012 the Comstock Award, established in 1959 by NECA's Board of Governors to recognize industry pioneer L.K. Comstock, the award is the highest honor recognizing contributions in the complex field of labor relations. On September 30, 2012, Wallace was inducted into the Academy of Electrical Contracting in recognition of service to the electrical Industry beyond any normal call of duty and being qualified in all other respects.

Wallace was cited as contributing spectacularly to the electrical industry throughout his 42 years with NECA but stands out particularly for the meaningful and lasting benefits achieved through his work in this field.

Wallace was deeply committed to serving his community and was involved in several non-profit organizations and charities. A highlight was when he got the city to agree to donate a school building that would house many local non-profit organizations. In 2000, while serving as chair of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, Wallace was instrumental in the construction of a brand-new home for the Salvation Army. Wallace would later serve as president of the Salvation Army.  Wallace also served on the Board of Directors for the John G. Blank Center for the Arts and served as president from 1995-1998. He served as president of the Boys and Girls Club and chaired the Red Cross Classic Golf Tournament at Pottawatomie Country Club in Michigan City, IN. He was appointed to the Michigan City Planning Commission in February 1988 by Mayor Robert Behler and continued to serve under three mayors until February 2019. He was appointed to serve as the Commission's President consecutively from 1996 until his resignation in 2019.  Wallace also served on the Michigan City Board of Zoning Appeals for 18 years, retiring in 2019.

Wallace was a Notre Dame Season ticket holder and member of the Quarterback Club.

Wallace was a member of Grace Methodist and Sudley Methodist Church in Manassas, VA, Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church in Minneapolis before transferring his membership to First United Methodist Church in Michigan City in 1986, where he was a certified Lay Speaker and former Lay Leader. It was not unusual for him to receive a call on Saturday evening or early Sunday morning to deliver a sermon somewhere in northwest Indiana. Wallace and Sylvia returned to Sudley in 2020.

Wallace was a former member of Fauquier Springs Country Club in Warrenton, Virginia, the University Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Pottawatomie Country Club in Michigan City. During his time in Minnesota, Wallace ran several Grandma's and Twin Cities marathons. He was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by Governor Paul E. Patton in the commonwealth of Kentucky in 1996.  Wallace loved going to Churchill Downs with relatives and friends to attend the reunions on Kentucky Colonels Day. All year he looked forward to the annual family trips to Virginia Beach and in later years to Orange Beach.

Wallace is survived by his beloved wife, Sylvia, of 67 years. He will be missed deeply by his children: George Wallace Hook III  "Tripp" (Diane), Susan Dahl (Steve), Hampton Hook (Catherine),  Meredith Vanasek (Doug); by his grandchildren Heather Fabregas (Chris), Holly Harlow (Matt), Charles Dahl (Katie), Elizabeth Stines (Matt), George Dahl, Forrest Hook, Douglas Vanasek (Molly),  Sarah Catherine Hook, Carter Vanasek, Will Dahl, George Hook and Meredith Ellison Vanasek; and by his great grandchildren Kylie Dahl,  Hudson Fabregas, Everett Harlow, Hayden Fabregas, George Harlow, Beau Harlow and Harrison Lee Stines.

He is survived by his sister, Sue Massey Smith (Rev. John) of Annapolis, MD, and brothers-in-law Rumsey Light Jr. (Bernadette) and Meredith Kimble Light of Aldie, VA. Nephews Rumsey Light III (Lisa), Charles Eschinger (Deb), niece Sarah Milholland (John), God Daughter Molly Harrover Lane.

Wallace was preceded in death by his parents Dr. George Wallace Hook Sr. and Evelyn Massey Hook and by his niece Mary Bernadette Light Hagen.

Services will be held at Sudley Methodist Church on Oct. 13, 2024 in Manassas, VA at 2:00 PM.

Private Interment will take place at the Hook Family Plot at Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton, VA.

Memorials may be made to Sudley Methodist Church, charity of your choice or 5 random acts of kindness.