Sally Yaeger Wallace, assistant professor emerita of physical education and a pioneer for women's athletics at SUNY Cortland, passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 26, after an extended illness. She was 76 years old.

Wallace earned both a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1953 and a master's degree in physical education in 1963 from Cortland. She competed in basketball, softball and volleyball as an undergraduate in numerous “play-day” and “sports-day” competitions versus other colleges in an era prior to formal intercollegiate women's athletics. She also participated in numerous intramural programs.

In 1960, Wallace joined the Cortland physical education faculty. In 1968, she organized the women's intercollegiate softball team at the College and led the program to a 106-33 record in 11 years. Her 1977 team won the New York State Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NYSAIAW) softball tournament.

A native of Rochester, N.Y., Wallace also coached women's golf, women's basketball and women's swimming during portions of her tenure. Her golf team won the 1974 Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) championship. For her accomplishments as an athlete, coach and teacher, Wallace was inducted into the Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame in 1979.

Wallace taught high school physical education in Bath, N.Y., from 1953-55, in Painted Post, N.Y., from 1955-57, and ) and in the Cortland school district in 1957-58 before joining the College's faculty. She held professional memberships in the New York State Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (NYSAHPER), the American Alliance for Physical Education and Recreation (AAHPER), the NYSAIAW and the EAIAW. She also served on Cortland's Study Abroad Program Committee and the College's Honors Committee. She retired from Cortland in 1987 after 27 years of service. Many of her former athletes came back to campus for a Cortland C-Club Classic Teams' reunion in her honor in 2002.

She is survived by her husband, Robert, also a 1953 Cortland graduate and C-Club Hall of Fame member who coached Cortland's baseball team from 1958-83 and softball from 1984-85.

A memorial service will be held at the Wright-Beard Funeral Home in Cortland on Thursday, Sept. 4. Calling hours will be from 5-7 p.m. Friends and former colleagues and students will have the opportunity to share some thoughts about their relationship with Sally during a “Memory Session” at the service.