Lynn (Stoecker) Valdivia-Wallace

Lynn Valdivia-Wallace, of Seward, was born on October 14, 1946, to Arnold and Fern Stoecker in Minden, Nebraska. Her father’s work on water infrastructure projects in Nebraska, California, and New York took the family across the country. She attended school in Franklin and Superior, NE, Blythe, CA and Lewiston-Porter High School in Niagara Falls, NY, graduating in 1964. She then attended the University of California at Berkeley earning a BA in History in 1968. She continued her education at Stanford University defending a Ph.D. in Microbiology in 1979. On December 15, 1984, Lynn was united in marriage to James Huntley Wallace in the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Lynn worked for several pharmaceutical companies, eventually landing a position in the Diagnostics division of Abbott Laboratories.  While at Abbott, she managed the team that developed the first AIDS test known as ELISA. Lynn’s Christian faith was central to her life and she viewed her scientific research as an extension of that faith. She devoted her life to Bible study, prayer and spreading the Gospel. Throughout her life Lynn also lived her faith by making unique quilts for all those she loved and even those she did not know. She also loved novels, writing, films, music, history, painting, dolls and photography. Lynn’s love for whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable was surpassed only by her love for Jesus and her family. Lynn passed away on February 19, 2022, at her home in Seward, Nebraska at the age of 75 years, 4 months and 5 days.  She is survived by her husband, James H. Wallace of Seward, Nebraska; and sons, James A.V. Wallace and John D.E. Wallace of Lincoln, Nebraska.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Arnold and Fern Stoecker and her brother Marshall Stoecker.

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