10/6/1927 – 2/16/2023
Emporia, KS
Milie J. Wade was born in 1927 in Post Oak, Missouri, to Milie A. Wade and Opal May Wade. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where he lived with his parents and sister, Virginia. Upon graduating from Kansas City’s Northeast High School, Milie became a Naval Corpsman Pharmacist’s Mate in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. After his Naval service he attended Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas, where he met his wife, Mary Sue Timmons. He graduated from Baker University with degrees in History, Economics, and Sociology, and married Mary Sue Timmons in 1949. Milie and Mary Sue moved to Bison, Kansas, where he taught 5th and 6th grade and she taught 3rd and 4th grade.
The Wades moved to Emporia, Kansas in 1962. In Emporia Milie served as Executive Vice President of Didde-Glaser, and Executive Vice President of Camplex Corporation, retiring at the age of 80. During his long and illustrious business career, he traveled extensively both nationally and internationally to twenty-one countries worldwide.
Milie took an active role in his community, serving as President of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, President of the Chamber of Commerce, and President of the Board of Community Theatre. He was a guest lecturer in the School of Business at both Emporia State University and the University of Kansas. In addition to his business skills, Milie was an avid patron of the arts, as well as being a highly accomplished participant in his own creative endeavors. He directed Community Theatre productions in Topeka and Emporia, wrote volumes of stories, and was a published author with articles in at least two publications, He loved live music and frequently hosted late night jam sessions in his home with friends, where he enthusiastically played his upright washtub bass. He often attended his daughter Kelley Hunt’s concerts, and was an enthusiastic supporter and patron of the Emporia Granada Theatre.
Milie loved history, reading, live music, theatre, his antique car, traveling, cherry pie, his tomato plants, and Royals baseball. He made a friend of every stranger, and was genuinely interested in hearing others’ life stories. He had a wicked, dry sense of humor, a sensitive heart for the downtrodden, and was incredibly proud of all of his children and grandchildren. He is survived by his wife Mary Sue Wade, daughter Kris Wade, son Eric Wade and Eric’s wife Tanya Kelley, daughter Kelley Hunt and her husband Alan Berman of Lawrence, KS, daughter Stacey Wade Schneider, grandchildren Tess Pattison-Wade, Adrian Hunt of Lawrence, KS, Samuel Campbell, great-granddaughter Isabelle Hunt, and many nieces and nephews.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the American Legion in Emporia, Kansas on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
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