Charles Wade

Wade, Charles L. Father, Grandfather, Friend. Charles Leonard Wade of Broomfield died Saturday, May 7th, at HospiceCare of Boulder and Broomfield Counties in Louisville, Colorado. He was 92. Chuck was born July 23, 1918, in Aurora, Illinois, the oldest of three children of Leonard Brigham Wade and Mildred Bouslough Wade. As a young man, he enjoyed playing football and playing the saxophone in his high school band. Chuck had fond memories of participating in 'Boy Scout Day' at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. He graduated from East Aurora High School in 1937 and enrolled in the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. In 1939, Chuck left school to work for the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad as a brakeman. In 1940, he met Martha Jane Pease at a dance at Rockford College and they married on December 27, 1941, just three weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He and Martha had two sons, Charles G. Wade ("Joff"), born in 1943, and David A. Wade, born in 1946. Chuck served his country in World War II as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and rose to the rank of Major between 1942 and 1945. He served as a training officer and regimental commander at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and in 1945 he attended the Army Command General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in preparation for the invasion of the Japanese islands. During the Korean War, Chuck was recalled to active duty and assigned to the Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG) as an engineering advisor to Task Force Paik. He served with General Paik Sun Yup, who eventually became a 4-star General in the Korean Army and the Korean Army Chief of Staff. For his service in Korea (1952-1953), Chuck was awarded the Bronze Star "for meritorious service, sound judgment and comprehensive knowledge of civil and military engineering principles." Between World War II and the Korean War, Chuck worked for the New York Life Insurance Company serving as assistant manager of the Northern Illinois branch. After the Korean War (1953), he became a sales manager for Stephens-Adamson Manufacturing Company in Aurora, Illinois, working both in domestic and international sales. In 1971, Chuck and Martha moved to Ithaca, New York, and Chuck became international sales manager for the Morse Chain Division of Borg Warner. During his career, Chuck traveled to more than 60 countries and made many life-long friends. He retired from Borg Warner in 1983 and he and Martha moved to Bayonet Point, Florida, where he formed an independent consulting firm, Wade World Wide. In 1992, he and Martha moved to Sun City West, Arizona, along with Martha's mother, Sylvia, who lived to the age of 105. Chuck is remembered as a devoted caregiver for both his wife and his mother-in-law, caring for both in the home and refusing to place them in a nursing home. After Martha's death in June 2000, Chuck moved to Louisville, Colorado, to be close to his son, Joff, and family. He resided at the Lodge at Balfour for more than five years before moving to the Stratford at Flatirons assisted living facility in Broomfield in March 2010. Chuck was a talented and patient craftsman, carving beautiful and intricate Kachina dolls, creating wooden duck decoys, and crafting silver and turquoise jewelry. He was a gifted storyteller, loved a good martini, and enjoyed playing the saxophone, as well as model railroading. He was known for his kind demeanor, his sense of humor, and especially for his generosity, dignity and personal integrity. He was devoted to his Bijon Frisé, 'Stubby'. His family will miss his optimism, his loyalty, his funny expressions and his gentle nature. Even as dementia robbed him of his short-term memory, he exhibited stoicism and acceptance of the hand that life dealt. Chuck is survived by two sons: Joff (Nancy) of Boulder, Colorado, and David of Union, Missouri; five grandsons, and several great-grandchildren. A memorial service to honor Chuck and his exemplary life will be held on Sunday, May 22nd, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., at the Lodge at Balfour, 1331 Hecla Drive, in Louisville, Colorado. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to HospiceCare of Boulder and Broomfield Counties.