Wallace M. Fay

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Wallace M. Fay (January 30, 1896 – April 25, 1976) was a Vermont businessman and politician who served as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives. He was born in Fort Covington, New York, and educated in Covington schools. In 1914 he began working at the Vermont Marble Company, eventually rising to vice president and a director, retiring in 1966.

Fay served in the U.S. Army during World War I, starting at Fort Ethan Allen, completing officer training as a second lieutenant of Aviation, and serving in Texas, Florida and Virginia before his discharge in December 1918. In the 1920s he remained active in the military as a member of the Vermont National Guard’s 86th Infantry Brigade.

He worked as the governor’s executive clerk from 1923 to 1925 under Redfield Proctor Jr. A Republican, he held local offices including president of the Village of Proctor. In 1938 he won a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives and served from 1939 to 1943, including time as chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He was elected to the Vermont Senate in 1942, serving 1943 to 1945. In 1944 he was elected again to the Vermont House, serving four terms from 1945 to 1953, and was Speaker of the House from 1951 to 1953.

In 1952 the University of Vermont awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Fay died in Proctor on April 25, 1976, and was buried in Proctor’s South Street Cemetery.