BILLINGS - George Wallis, who was the oldest living former Montana State football player, has died at the age of 102.
Wallis grew up in Billings and played for the Bobcats before the program was put on pause for World War II, even catching a touchdown pass in the Bobcats opening game of the 1941 college football season.
Like most of his teammates, Wallis served in the war, flying 21 bombing missions over Germany.
While he made it home, many of his friends did not. At least 11 of his former teammates on the Montana State football team were killed in action.
Wallis had a long career in the oil and gas industry before moving back to Billings and into the historic Victorian home that he grew up in on Clark Avenue where he lived the rest of his life.
He told MTN in an interview for his 100th birthday that his greatest accomplishment was his family. He and his wife Jean were married for 73 years before she passed away.
MTN’s Russ Riesinger and Brandon Sullivan’s story “Meet George Wallis” won the 2021 E.B. Craney Award for Montana’s best television feature story. You can watch it by clicking the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHXuQVI6Ank
And read prior Q2 stories about George Wallis in the links below:
101-year-old former MSU player ready to cheer on Cats from his Billings home
