Venus Beck Wallace

Venus Joy Beck Wallace, 84, died peacefully at her home on Friday, Oct. 5, following a brief period of declining health.

A funeral service will be held 4:00 pm Saturday, Oct. 13 at Briggs Funeral Home Memorial Chapel. Interment will follow at Denton Town Cemetery.

The family will receive friends on Saturday from 2:00 to 4:00 pm prior to the service at Briggs Funeral Home in Denton and other times at the residence of daughter Theresa Matthews on N. Main St. Denton.

She was born March, 6, 1934, in the Holly Grove community, the daughter of Brantley Michael and Annie Maye Essic Beck.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward M. Wallace Jr., whom she married in 1956; also her parents and her brother, the Rev. Elmo D. Beck of Loganville, PA.

She is a 1952 graduate of Davis-Townsend High School and a 1956 graduate of Catawba College, where she met her husband.

She and her husband were editors and managers of The Denton Record since 1962, becoming owners and publishers in 1984. Mrs. Wallace was known for writing “Cook's Tour” with recipes gleaned from local cooks and everywhere else. And also for her column “Squibbles”, which covered topics of local interest and goings on and just about everything else. She received writing awards from NC Press Women and NC Press Association.

She had served as president of NC Press Women, Chair of the Town of Denton Planning and Zoning Board, and had been a Poll Official at Emmons Township.

For many years she directed the Miss Denton and Little Miss Denton Pageants, building it from a simple format to elaborate productions. She acted as chaperone and travelling companion to at least two Miss North Carolinas in addition to judging Miss NC preliminaries, festival pageants, etc., across the state. She helped with the conference basketball tournament queen pageant, Little Miss Thomasville, and she and her husband established the Southeast Thresher's Queen Pageant in cooperation with the Denton FarmPark.

She also organized an annual fashion show for the Denton Woman’s Club by the Denton High home ec students modeling their sewing projects.

In 1977 she and her husband received the Denton Jaycees' Distinguished Service Award for their work with the Christmas Parade. They coordinated the parade and pageant into the Denton Holiday Festival for a number of years. They also produced various talent and variety shows as fundraisers.

In 2006 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Denton Area Chamber of Commerce.

Her sense of civic pride and promotion of the various organizations in and around Denton were uppermost in all she did.

Mrs. Wallace is survived by two daughters, Theresa W. Matthews and husband Kirby and Suzanne W Fire; three grandchildren, Dianna Matthews Wald and husband Chris, Liddy Matthews Bray and husband Zac, and Rocky Lee Fire; and two great-grandchildren, Eliza Kate Bray and Jeb Bray.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the South Davidson Family Resource Center PO Box 1197 Denton, NC 27239 or Project Santa Fund in c/o First Baptist Church PO Box 515 Denton, NC 27239 .

Online condolences may be made at www.briggsfuneralhome.com