Rosemarie Wallace

Rosemarie Wallace
Mesa, Arizona

Presbytery Moderator
Synod Stated Clerk

The very brief statement on Rosemarie Wallace's stole does not begin to tell the story of one of the great pioneers in the Presbyterian Church and in the Welcoming movement.

Born in 1929 in Baltimore, MD, Rosemarie Wallace was a teacher, counselor and administrator in the Baltimore City public schools for 30 years.  At Arlington Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Rosemarie was first woman to be ordained as a deacon, and later the first woman ordained as elder.  She was the first woman commissioner to Baltimore Presbytery and went on to serve as vice-moderator, moderator, and chair of the presbytery's governing council.  In the Synod of the Piedmont, she was a member of the Permanent Judicial Commission.  Rosemarie was twice elected as a commissioner to the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church, first in 1978 and again in 1981, where she served as Moderator of the Polity Committee. 

After moving to Arizona, Rosemarie continued her active work in the church, serving several terms on the Session of Celebration of Life Presbyterian Church, as a commissioner to the Presbytery of Grand Canyon, as chair of that Presbytery's Preparation for Ministry Committee, and as a member of the Women's Ministries and Social Justice and Peacemaking committees, among others.  She was elected the first woman Stated Clerk of the Synod of the Southwest, serving three terms from 1989-1994.

These accomplishments in and of themselves created a lasting legacy.  But these accomplishments are made even more remarkable by the fact that she was also one of the first women to join in the formation of Presbyterians for Gay Concerns in the early 1970's (later renamed Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns(PLGC), and now More Light Presbyterians(MLP)), a group openly advocating for the full equality of gays and lesbians in the Presbyterian Church at a time when there was precious little support for their cause.  Rosemarie organized the first PLGC committee in Phoenix, AZ and later served two terms as national co-moderator of PLGC.  In addition to her work in the More Light Movement, Rosemarie was also active in That All May Freely Serve and the Covenant Network, two other organizations working for equality in the Presbyterian Church.

Rosemarie was awarded the 2001 Hope Award by Community Church of Hope in Phoenix, the 2003 David Sindt Leadership Award by More Light Presbyterians, and the 2004 George Brooks Award from Grand Canyon Presbytery for her dedication to social justice, human rights and peacemaking.

Rosemarie passed away in 2004.  Her long time partner, Tabb Forster, carries on her legacy by serving on the National MLP Board.

Martha Juillerat
Founder, Shower of Stoles Project
2006