Donna Wallace, 87, of Southlake went to her heavenly home on Sunday, March 17, 2013, in Grapevine. Service: 10 a.m. Thursday in Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Chapel. Visitation: 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home. Donna Lea Hedrick was born Feb. 8, 1926, in Wellington, Kan., to Beulah Mae Stephens and Leslie Hedrick. Following the early death of her father, in the oil fields of Oklahoma, the family was forced to place the children with other families. Donna and older sister, Sylvia, were sent to a girls' orphanage in Hutchinson, Kan. At 15 years of age, she left Kansas with her sister, Sylvia, and friend, Peggy Toumi. They hitchhiked to Dallas, where they worked as telephone switchboard operators at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and also worked nights as diner waitresses to help make ends meet. She met and married sixth-generation Texan, Eugene Dairl Wallace, at the start of World War II. Eugene preceded her in death in 2007, having served in the Navy during World War II, with his six brothers, later retiring from Bell Helicopter Company in Hurst. Donna raised three adopted sons, Roger Alan, Robert Allen and Rodney Aaron. She was eventually hired at General Dynamics, now Lockheed Martin, working on the avionics systems of the original F-16 jet strike fighter. She retired after 30 years to her home in Southlake. Her home was a favorite gathering place for local children who always showed up for her squirrel and dumpling stew. She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, CL and Leslie Junior; and older sister, Sylvia. Survivors: Son, Roger Alan Wallace and wife, Rhonda; son, Robert Allan Wallace and wife, Edna; and son, Rodney Aaron Wallace; grandsons, Justin, Michael and Brandon Wallace; granddaughters, Rachael and Jennifer Wallace; sister, Pauline; and niece, Susan Childers and husband, Dee.