As far as names go, if you do a Google search on Michael Wallace you are going to produce a lot of matches. Thousands of matches, in fact.

 

It is a common name. One that is held by more than one individual here in Bridgeport, Harrison County, and across West Virginia as well.

 

The name Michael Wallace, at least the one I am going to talk about, was not common – or at least the individual behind the moniker. Actually, the term “far from common” is better suited.

 

I am mentioning the name of Michael Scott Wallace today for all the wrong reasons. I mention the name as a tribute for all the right reasons.

 

Michael Wallace, the one who this blog is written about, is a 2009 graduate of Bridgeport High School. He was a valued worker in Bridgeport’s aerospace community. And he was a beloved friend to countless individuals.

 

Sadly, I write about Wallace because on Dec. 30, he passed away. At the far too early age of 33, his lifelong battle with osteogenesis imperfecta concluded. The disease for those who do not know it by that name, likely know it by its more common name – brittle bone disease.

 

Although I knew Wallace casually at best through a pair of stories I wrote about him, as I read his obituary, I wanted to make sure people who did not know him knew a giant of a human being walked among us.

 

Allow me to explain how Michael Wallace first came on my radar. In the early 2000s when Mike and Kim Martin were starting Challenger League, Martin and I talked about a story announcing it. However, I wanted to talk to someone who would be in the league. And Martin told me the story of Michael Wallace. A brief time later, legendary Clarksburg photographer Bob Shaw and I were spending the day at his house learning about his love of sports and also talking with family about his condition.

 

It was a long time ago. I am fairly certain Wallace was not even double digits in age as the first Challenger season approached.

 

I watched him play that first year and in the first-ever game for Challenger baseball. Watching Michael, and every other child play, was the most beautiful sports moment I ever witnessed – and it annually repeats itself for anyone in need of a dose of perspective or a feel-good moment.

 

Outside of seeing Michael serve as the team manager at Bridgeport Middle School for the boys’ basketball team a long time ago, it had been more than a decade when a former co-worker mentioned him to me. Hannah Cantrell, now Hannah Edwards, told me about her friend in 2015.

 

As it turned out, the friend was Michael Wallace. Michael and Kenny Edwards, who many know as the Assistant Principal at Bridgeport High School, was getting ready to marry Hannah. It just so happened Michael was in the wedding party.

 

I inquired on how he was doing. And was thrilled to hear about it. So much so, I asked Hannah to contact Michael to talk about how he was doing with his physical condition – and how he was living.

 

And understand from that follow-up story I wrote in 2015 to Dec. 20, 2024, and every day before, Michael Scott Wallace was living.

 

Despite the obstacles presented by Brittle Bone Disease, he was living. For those not believing in obstacles, understand that when I first wrote about Michael around 2002, he had already endured about 30 surgeries. By 2015, he told me the number was closer to 70. I only imagine the number grew.

 

As I read the obituary, I wanted to reach out to a personal friend of Michael’s, and I remembered Kenny Edwards. So I reached out. I needed to know if what I felt about him – about living life to its fullest despite what he faced – was legitimate.

 

“He did his absolute best to not allow (his condition) to affect him whatsoever,” said Edwards “You would never even know. Every single day, he would get up, go to school, go to work, and do whatever it is that he had to do. He went in to each day very much with the attitude that nothing was going to stand in his way.

 

“It’s absolutely amazing how he dealt with everything. It was amazing that he never once let anything hold him back,” Edwards continued. “It was also amazing that we never once saw him say ‘I can’t do that, or I can’t do this.’ I cannot say it enough that he lived his life more than most people do with a lot more time.”

 

Up to 70 surgeries; maybe more. He did not complain. He went to work. He lived his life.

 

For good measure, as Kenny Edwards said, “he was very much beloved.”

 

When I think of Michael Wallace, I will never think he lost a battle to osteogenesis imperfecta. Quite the opposite. He beat the disease in every way possible.

 

Bridgeport, Harrison County and this entire region needs to know this was no regular guy. He was, as I stated before, a giant who walked among us. He was just hidden in plain sight.

 

Rest in Peace young man. Your work here is complete.

 

Click HERE to read his obituary.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows a recent photo of Michael Wallace. The second image shows Wallace at his work place and is a photo that ran with out 2015 blog. Bottom photo shows young Michael in the Challenger League.