Mavis Ione Brevig Hampton Wallace was born September 21, 1942, the first of seven children born to Alvin and Vivian Brevig. She was finally granted her wish to be with her Lord on May 26, 2023, surrounded by her siblings.
Mavis was raised on the farm, but soon discovered that working in the house was her calling. She was busy helping her mom and grandma, and helping with care of the other new siblings. She went to six years of country school and graduated from Spring Grove High School in 1960. She was very studious and didn’t have time for boys, but did invite her Uncle Norman to her senior prom!
Mavis went on to business school at Humboldt Institute and following that moved to Washington, D.C. to work in a secretarial position for the U.S. Government. After three years, she transferred to a position at the Department of the Navy in Seal Beach, Calif. She worked at this job for three years and could be seen riding her Vespa to and from work. She also did some modeling for a short time. She made the perfect “Twiggy” model with her tall slender figure — as was trendy in the sixties. She lived in Seal Beach, Long Beach, Mariposa, Yreka and Sacramento during the 40 years she spent in California.
Mavis met Joseph F. Hampton and later married him on April 18, 1969. She acquired a ready-made family with his two children, Steven and Karen, raising Steve to adulthood. She was a stay-at-home mom after her marriage, and very talented at many kinds of handiwork, creating many truly beautiful treasures and attending numerous classes to further her talent. Mavis was a very devoted wife of 25 years and became a wonderful nurse to Joseph, whom she spent every day for five years caring for as he was bedridden with a degenerative nerve disorder, until his passing on April 18, 1994.
Mavis had a goal when she was young to marry a vicar! She was blessed to meet her second husband, Rev. Joe C. Wallace, whom she married February 10, 1995. They spent 25 loving and carefree years together traveling to many places. They returned to Minnesota to be near her mom and help with her care; living in La Crescent, Caledonia and La Crosse. Mavis was later diagnosed with brain lesions, affecting her vision and memory, which made it difficult for them to live independently, so they moved to the Spring Grove Assisted Living where they lived until Joe passed on July 25, 2019. That made her next step to move to the Gundersen Tweeten Care Center necessary, where she lived until her passing.
Mavis’s life was dedicated to her faith and church community and to doing her Lord’s work!
Mavis is survived by all her siblings: BevAnn Brevig (Henry Kling), Mary Lou Knight (Daryl Magee), Betty Jean Schmidt (Alan), Vernice Klug, Fordyce Brevig (Marge) and Ardys Richards (Carl); her Uncle Rev. Norman Omodt, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her four stepchildren: Steven Hampton, Karen Hampton, Glenda Young and James Wallace; along with numerous special friends.
Mavis is preceded in death by her first husband Joseph Hampton, her second husband Rev. Joe Wallace, plus her parents, brother-in-law Robert Knight, aunts and uncles, and several nieces, nephews and cousins, including her special cousin Loretta Brevig Stigen.
The family of Mavis would like to thank Spring Grove Assisted Living, Gundersen Tweeten Care Center and Promedica Hospice for the wonderful care they provided while she lived with them.
There will be a memorial service at Faith Lutheran of Black Hammer on Saturday, July 8, at 2 p.m. with visitation beginning at 12:30 p.m. and fellowship to follow the service.
Interment will be in the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery, Gustine, Calif., at a later date.
Roble Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
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