Wallace Lewis, Sr., a.k.a. siweL dE', was born on October 2, 1954, to Laura Peters Lewis in Bogalusa, Louisiana. He is the youngest of seven children, four boys and three girls. He grew up in the village of Varnado, Louisiana, a small farm town with a population of about 350 people. His mom was a powerful warrior for the kingdom. Because of her personal relationship with a living God, he witnessed the power of walking by faith. Due to her influence, Wallace accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior at an early age. It's the best thing he's ever done! During his youth, Wallace attended Jones Creek Elementary School in Varnado, Louisiana. He completed the ninth grade at Wesley Ray High School in Angie, Louisiana, prior to the racial integration mandate in public schools in Louisiana. After graduating Varnado High School in 1972, he attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, and graduated with a bachelor of arts in business education in 1976. In June 1976, Wallace was hired as the first African American to enter the management training program at Tangipahoa Parish's largest bank. During the eight years that followed, he held several leadership positions until he resigned as an assistant vice president and commercial loan officer in 1984 to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity. On June 3, 1978, Evelyn Roberson made him the happiest man in the world by agreeing to become Mrs. Wallace Lewis. From that moment, he knew that great things were ahead, with Evelyn at his side. In August 1984, Wallace became a State Farm agent in Hammond, Louisiana. Aside from accepting Jesus as his Savior and Lord, marrying Evelyn, and becoming a father, it was the best decision he ever made. What he earned and accomplished as a businessowner was totally reliant upon him, with God's help. Evelyn and Wallace have been blessed with three beautiful and talented children, Tiquania (Haman), Wallace II, and Brittney Rachelle, and five beautiful and perfect grandchildren, Jhane, Jhlena, Siwel, Jhnyla, and Faith. They are highly favored! Evelyn, an educator by profession, and Wallace moved around the country and traveled the world with State Farm, allowing them to see, do, and accomplish things they had never dreamt possible. Wallace was a State Farm agent, agency manager, agency field executive, and executive assistant to the president's office before retiring as vice president of agency. During his forty-one-year career, Wallace was the first African American to hold six of his nine leadership positions. The challenges he faced as the first were real, and many people have recognized him as an overcomer. While his family provided invaluable support every step of his journey, there were at least eleven bold, visionary, and courageous Caucasian men who God providentially and strategically placed in his career path. They boldly opened doors that Wallace otherwise could not have entered and were voices of advocacy when he could not speak. Wallace went from being offered the job as the head basketball coach at Varnado High School in the late seventies, at a time when the community was adjusting to having black players, to being handed the reins as the first African American vice president of agency for the great state of Tennessee. The eleven men previously mentioned are the unsung heroes of Wallace's career because life for them was good and pretty much without event when they accepted the divine prompting to take a chance on an African American man from the small village of Varnado, Louisiana. Even in the midst of all the challenges he knew he would face, Wallace cherished these opportunities. It was what he had worked for and prayed for. He understood that at every opportunity as the first African American, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose except the expected pain of change, frustration, and an uncertain future. The heroic eleven men, however, had potentially everything to lose and nothing to gain, except the...
