A story about four generations of Bruins might seem as though it would begin neatly, with dates and degrees. But for David Wallis ’95, tracing his family’s UCLA legacy revealed a history that stretched back much further than he expected.  

Those roots start with siblings Ethel ’36 and Wilber Wallis ’38, with the story taking a clearer shape a decade later when Marilyn Heinmiller arrived at UCLA. By then, the Wallis and Heinmiller families were already familiar to one another, having crossed paths at the University Bible Church in Westwood. Heinmiller would leave her UCLA nursing program to serve with the U.S. Navy during World War II. Upon her return, she married Howard Wallis, the brother of the aforementioned Ethel and Wilber. The marriage joined two families whose Bruin connections had been running in parallel for years. 

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The Wallis Family Tree, Westwood Edition

Wilber Wallis ’38

Ethel Wallis ’36

Frances Wallis

James Wallis

Annie Eloise Wallis 

Howard Wallis

Marilyn Heinmiller attended UCLA for two years, then joined the U.S. Navy in 1945.

Nancy Wallis M.S. ’83, M.B.A. ’87

Jan Wallis

Norm Wallis

Ken Wallis

Donald Wallis D.D.S. ’72

Jean Griffin ’70

Laura Wallis

David Wallis ’95

Kerry Saukkola ’95

Karla Saukkola ’98

Marina Sugar ’95, M.Ed. ‘96 

Steven Wallis ’98, M.Ed. ’99

Jacob Wallis (class of ’28)

Natalie Wallis

Caleb Wallis ’25

Shelby Wallis (class of ’29)

Jude Wallis (Hopeful)

 

It only got more blue and gold from there. Today, the Wallis family counts 11 living Bruins, including three fourth-generation students, a rarity even at a university known for deep alumni loyalty. Their family portrait reveals a visual timeline of UCLA history: students who met in classrooms and on campus paths, spouses who found one another in Westwood, children who grew up assuming UCLA was simply a part of life. 

“To me, ‘UCLA for Life’ goes deep. It’s history, it’s present and it’s future,” David says. “As a third-generation Bruin, you could argue my own life started after my parents met here. I met my own wife here while we were students, and our present careers as a physician and an attorney were launched here. UCLA has been the place where we have developed much of our faith, our relationships, our careers and our outlook on life.”

For Nancy Wallis M.S. ’83, M.B.A. ’87, UCLA represents a formative turning point. Arriving in her mid-20s to pursue a master’s in public health, she found an intellectual framework that shaped her career and her worldview. “UCLA offered the opportunity to learn, develop and establish what would become my vocational path,” she says. 

Taken together, the Wallis family story returns again and again to Westwood — in familiar corners of campus and in chance encounters that, over time, have become something deep and enduring. 

Read more from UCLA Magazine’s Spring 2026 issue.