Many praise slain Case student

Calling hours are Wednesday; services, Thursday.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Brilliant. Helpful. Involved in his church.
Friends and family of Norman Eugene Wallace, 30, say he had a bright future and understood the importance of helping others.
Wallace, a 1991 graduate of Calvary Christian Academy, was killed Friday when a gunman opened fire at Case Western Reserve University, where Wallace was working toward a master's degree in business administration and living in Cleveland after graduating with a degree in finance in 1997 from Youngstown State University.
As an elementary and high school pupil, Wallace was on the honor roll, often earning straight A's, said Deborah Benton, publicist for Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church.
He took part in the Youth Renaissance church group, she said, and, as an adult, greeted visitors as part of Mount Calvary's hospitality ministry.
"He was one of those students you look forward to coming in to talk," said Martha Countryman, Wallace's academic adviser at YSU's College of Business Administration. "He was a remarkable individual -- very self-motivated."
Countryman said she thought Wallace's name sounded familiar when she first heard about the shooting but didn't realize he had been one of her most memorable students until she saw his picture.
His family
Wallace was named after Bishop Norman Wagner, who, with his wife, Dr. Rita Helen (Wallace) Wagner, reared him.
Wallace was one of 11 children, and his aunt and the bishop took him in to help his parents, Evelyn and Frederick Wallace, who are divorced, Benton said.
Wallace's siblings -- Frederick, David, Kevin, Kim, Corey, Brian, Sheila, Donovan, Alena and Eric -- all live in either the Columbus or Atlanta areas, Benton added.
A friend of his brother's described Wallace as a helpful kid who treated everyone equally and who understood the importance of helping others and pulling together.
A cousin recalled that Wallace helped other students study.
Biswanath Halder, 62, has been charged with aggravated murder in the death of Wallace and attempted aggravated murder in the wounding of two other people during the seven-hour standoff that trapped 93 people inside CWRU's Peter B. Lewis Building of the Weatherhead School of Management.
Calling hours will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in Black, Phillips and Holden Funeral Home. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in the church.
kubik@vindy.com