Berenice Boyd Wallace was born February 23, 1903 to parents Ed and Sadie Boyd. She was an only child. She attended schools in Paola, Kansas and graduated from Paola High School in 1921.

She attended Lindenwood College in St Charles, Missouri for two years before transferring to the University of Michigan, where she studied English, Latin, archaeology, and education, among other things. She graduated June 15, 1925 with an A.B. degree.

On September 2, 1925, she began teaching English and Latin in St Ignace, Michigan, where she taught for a year. Next she taught in Nevada, Missouri for a year. In 1930 she signed up for a student tour of Europe with her friend Dottie, aboard the U.S.S. Austoria. After she returned, she went to Hutchinson, Kansas and taught English and Latin for eight years.

She met Clyde Wallace in 1935. They married on November 27 the same year. Clyde Wallace had been gassed in WWI. In 1936 he had a recurrence and died suddenly of pneumonia on July 8, 1936.

Berenice joined the Paola Free Public Library Board in February, 1938, teaching Sunday school on the side. In April, 1940 she started working at her father's lumber yard, Paola Lumber & Coal Company, Inc., after he had a heart attack earlier that year. When her father died, Berenice became owner and manager of Paola Lumber. She divided it into three sections: hardware, picture framing, and gifts. She often worked on floral arrangements herself.

On January 6, 1955 Wallace was elected President of the Library Board. With her friend Dottie, she funded the Eye Foundation of Dr. Sabates. On May 2, 1983 she was honored with the Paola Civic Award for her history of community service in Paola. She died at the Miami County Hospital in Paola on Wednesday March 6, 1991.