Wallace’s Ex-Wife in Mental Hospital
Cornelia Wallace, former wife of Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, has been committed to a state mental hospital where she is responding well to treatment, the judge in the case said Friday.
Cornelia Wallace, who was divorced from the governor in 1978, was committed to Searcy Hospital Dec. 14 by Coffee County Probate Judge Marion Brunson, who was acting on the request of her mother, Ruby Folsom Austin, and brother, Charles Ellis Jr.
“It was my observation that it was needed,” Brunson said. “I understand she has responded very well.”
Brunson said Wallace, 44, had been living in Florida and was visiting her mother and brother in Elba, Ala. The judge said she was “nervous” but cooperative at the hearing.
Cornelia Wallace, the niece of former Gov. Jim Folsom, married the Alabama governor in 1971 and was with him when he was shot during a 1972 presidential campaign stop in Maryland. The attack left Wallace paralyzed from the waist down. They were divorced in 1978.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
