Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico – Lisa Deane Wallace, a long time visitor to, and ultimately, resident of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico passed away on January 26, 2020 after a fall in the home she shared with her husband, Rick Vancil, who was in Colorado at the time of the accident.
Apparently alone at the time, it appeared that she was working on one of her favorite projects while standing on a stool and toppled over backwards striking her head on the floor. The official report indicates that her death was immediate with no sign of foul play.
Born in Beaumont, Texas, Lisa moved with her family to Houston at a young age and graduated from Spring Branch High School in 1973. She particularly enjoyed performing with the drill team where she advanced to the rank of captain. With a longtime interest in design of all kinds, she studied Fashion Design and Merchandising at the University of Texas, Austin, graduating in 1977.
Her love of travel led to a career in the travel industry in which she was active during the aftermath of 9/11 when she worked virtually non-stop getting stranded travelers back to their homes during the aviation blackout period.
Her interest in Mexico led to an English teaching assignment in Mexico City and ultimately to Puerto Vallarta, where she designed and built a home with a longtime partner. The internet provided her the opportunity to continue in the travel business from her beloved home, Villa Mizpah, overlooking the Pacific Ocean near Mismaloya.
Always interested in charitable causes and a longtime cat owner, Lisa became a fashion show model, benefitting cats of the Banderas Bay area. She also took delight in working as a volunteer at the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Garden, where she and Rick enjoyed their first lunch date in 2013.
Her design talent and history of antique shopping and marketing with her mother led to the renovation of a number of homes in Texas and New England following which she put her skills to work in Mexico, including the enhancement of the villa where she and Rick were living, as well as the eco-resort they were designing near the ocean north of Puerto Vallarta.
A Designated Sustainability Professional, she participated in volunteer cruises to Cuba and the Dominican Republic and traveled to a Sustainability Workshop in Southeast Asia of December 2018, where the founder vowed to help her and Rick create the “leading sustainable resort in the Americas.”
Her love of Mexico, its people and its culture, coupled with her joy of life, and her beauty, inward as well as outward, drew countless people to her. Her sudden departure has left a vacuum in many and her legacy will not be forgotten.
She leaves behind Rick Vancil, her husband of four months; brother, Skip Wallace; sister-in-law, Jessie; and nephew, Kyle Wallace – all of San Diego, and nephew Scott Wallace, his wife, Amy and their two daughters of Lenexa, Kansas. Her parents, Claude Henderson Wallace II and Jewel Deane Wallace, preceded Lisa in death.
At her request Lisa’s body was cremated and her ashes will be scattered with those of her cat, Cha Cha, (who lived to the age of 18) at the location requested by her. Donations in her honor will be gratefully accepted by the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Garden at vbgardens.org.
A Celebration of Life will take place in the garden at Babel Bar, Cuale Island, Old Town Puerto Vallarta at 4:00 pm Saturday, February 22, 2020, with Pastor Ric Lehman, of Paradise Church, officiating.
An additional Celebration of Life will take place in mid-July 2020 in Lenexa, Kansas, where Lisa and Rick both have relatives. Coordinating the event will be Lisa’s nephew, Scott Wallace, (913) 752-7046 schwallace(at)gmail.com, and Rick’s nephew, Brett Fuller, (913) 568-5907 fullerbrett66(at)gmail.com, who will provide more information as details become available and will welcome your calls.
For additional information about Lisa’s Life Celebration in Puerto Vallarta, contact Rick Vancil at (720) 313-0100 (US) or rickvancil1(at)gmail.com.
BN Editor’s Note: All of us here at Banderas News extend our sincere condolences to Lisa’s friends, family, and everyone who was fortunate enough to know her.