Sharon “Chris” Wade died November 10th after a six year battle with COPD. She was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on September 9, 1936, the only child of Alexander and Helen (nee Plattner) Christie. With her father’s frequent moves for a national retailer, plus the Navy during World War II, she attended 13 different grade schools in 6 Midwest and east coast states.
After the war the family moved to Texas where Sharon attended junior high school and then graduated as Valedictorian of a class of 700+ students at Lamar High School in Houston in 1954. As a straight “A” student in all classes, even gym, she applied to only one college and was accepted by Wellesley for their Class of 1958. To study something “potentially practical” she majored in Economics and graduated with honors.
Shortly after arriving at Wellesley she met her future husband, Richard “Dick” Wade, at a traditional acquaintance dance. He called the next day for a date to find that she was booked solid from that first week in October to Christmas; meeting as someone else’s blind date in January they began dating in April. They celebrated 60 years of marriage on October 11, 2018.
Their marriage produced the 3 children she considered to be her crowning achievement in life: Roderick (Diane) Wade, Garrett (Laurel) Wade, and Susan (Craig) Hughey. Grandchildren Ryan Wade, Kelsey Wade, Carson Hughey, and Maretta Hughey followed. The three spouses of her children nicely met her mental goal “to have 6 kids” because of discomfort as an only child.
She truly loved and cherished them all. Through her childhood and adult years she travelled extensively. Trips included all 50 states, virtually all of Western Europe, Canada, Colombia, Panama, China and Korea.
She learned to fly a single engine fixed wing aircraft and flew with her husband to Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories. She was an excellent companion and copilot. She jumped into the job market as an accountant when her youngest child was seven.
Ultimately she worked for Loomcraft Textiles for more than 30 years. Their relationship was so compatible that the president purchased an electric scooter and an oxygen concentrator for her when her mobility and breathing deteriorated, enabling her to work to age 82. Living in the Tower Lakes community for 52 years she served brief tours as the village clerk and the TLIA financial secretary.
For years she would frequently swim across the lake to the beach with her entire family, sailed Butterfly sailboats competitively, and played thousands of bridge hands from duplicate in her twenties to social fun for decades. She volunteered for the management of Barrington youth and high school hockey teams and shuttled area children to games and practices until her two sons and daughter became collegiate skaters. Known as “Chris” to her husband, friends and co-workers, she embodied the concept that “a woman can do it all with quiet grace”.
Sharon was predeceased by her parents, a daughter-in-law Diane (nee Kane) Wade and a sister-in-law Shirlee Wade. In the eyes of her husband she was a highly intelligent “hottie” at age 18, epitomized total commitment to her family, joyful appreciation for friends, with compassion and smiles for the world. Visitation will be held from 4pm until 8pm with a prayer service at 7pm, Friday November 23 at Davenport Family Funeral Home, 149 W. Main St. (Lake Cook Road), Barrington.
Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), www. jdrf.org, or to American Lung Association, www.
lung.org.
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