Emma Elizabeth Wallace, 16, of Henderson left this earthly life on Monday, August 17, 2026.

Born in Vance County on September 28, 2009, she was the daughter of Tony Carl Wallace Jr. and Elizabeth "Beth" Pendergrass Wallace.

While our hearts are shattered, we find comfort in knowing that Emma is resting peacefully in the loving arms of Jesus.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, August 23, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. in the auditorium at South Granville High School. Reverend Mark Richardson will officiate. Burial will follow at Meadowview Memorial Park in Oxford.

Emma was such an amazing person and so full of life. She was a light you didn't just see – you felt. She had a heart that stretched farther than her years, a kindness that reached people who needed it the most, and a spirit that made every room a little warmer the moment she walked in. She loved big. She gave freely. She showed up for people without being asked. That's who she was – a young woman whose compassion was instinct, whose smile was comfort, whose presence was a gift.

Losing her so suddenly has shattered us in ways we are still trying to understand. But even in this pain, her love is everywhere. It's in the stories people are sharing, in the lives she touched, in the memories that feel too beautiful and too heavy all at once. Emma gained her wings, but she will never be far from us. We will carry her laughter, her goodness, her fierce love, and her beautiful heart for the rest of our lives.

She leaves to cherish her precious memory, her parents, Tony and Beth Wallace; one brother, Devin Carl Wallace; one sister, Laney Idelle Wallace; her paternal grandparents, Tony and Lisa Wallace Sr.; her maternal grandparents, Michael and Debra Beard and Pat and Lisa Pendergrass; her great grandmother, Naomi Kinsey Reed; aunts and uncles, Charles and Khristy Adcock, Tommy and Leanne Pendergrass and Scottie and Jennifer Roberts; cousins, Ethan, Brayden, Mikayla, McKenzie, Kaelee and Natalie; special friends, Josie, Jayla, Aylee, Lilly, Kaylee, London, Tati, Gabby, Kylie and Rilynne; her teammates on the South Granville High School softball and volleyball teams, Vance Charter School softball team and the Granville Volleyball Club as well as an abundant amount of friends, cousins and extended family members. She was preceded in death by her paternal great grandparents, John and Mabel Johnston and Dennis and Linda Pruitt and her paternal great grandparents, William Reed and Joe and Annie Lee Pendergrass.

The family will receive friends two hours prior to the service beginning at 12:00 p.m. at South Granville High School.

Serving as active pallbearers will be Devin Wallace, Walker Reed, Shane Wilson, Dylan McCann, Justin Champion, Jordan Champion, and Gary "Munchkin" Wilkins III. Honorary pallbearers will be Ethan Adcock, Brayden Adcock, Wyatt Hall, Noah Taylor, Zadock Windsor, Jodus Leonard, Julius Burke, Hunter Gill, Vani Hernandez and Gavin Robertson.