Rahima C. Wade

GREENFIELD - Rahima Carol Wade, 58, died peacefully at home in Greenfield embraced by her family on March 27, 2012. The cause of her death was metastatic breast cancer.
Educator, author, consultant, and pioneer in the area of service-learning, Rahima was also a soul mate to many of the people who loved her long and well. She knew the healing power of meditation, music and dance and engaged in these practices with others regularly for over 30 years. She modeled what it means to live with deep joy and loving compassion, paying attention to the present and wonderful moment wherever she was.
Carol Wade was born on Oct. 13, 1953 in Boston to Bill and Iris Wade - the first of five children - later changing her name to Rahima C. Wade, as a mark of her newfound Sufi path. She grew up in Scituate, from where came her deep and abiding connection to the sea.
Rahima graduated from the State University of New York College at Buffalo with degrees in elementary and special education in 1976. After moving to Oregon, she worked for seven years as a puppeteer and artist-in-residence in schools.
After marrying in 1983, Rahima moved with her husband, Malik Haig, to New Hampshire where she worked as a teacher of the gifted and talented in the Keene elementary schools. She also completed her Master's in Education degree at Keene State College and her Doctorate in Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
A professor at The University of Iowa's College of Education for 15 years, she wrote five books, editing the influential title Community Service Learning (1997). She also authored many articles, book chapters and successful grant applications to promote community service-learning and social justice education. The International Center for Service-Learning and Teacher Education, an organization Rahima was instrumental in founding, has recently named an award in her honor.
Rahima established "Sacred Space," a meditation center, in Iowa City. Then, in 2008, she moved back to New England, settling in Greenfield. For the past few years she worked as a consultant in the service-learning field and as the coordinator of the volunteer program for the Greenfield Public Schools. She especially enjoyed the Guiding Star Grange contra dance community, singing with the Amandla Chorus, swimming in the Green River, and hiking on local trails. An avid runner, she completed 15 marathons.
Rahima is survived by her beloved partner, Andy Grant; her dear children, Mira and Anders Haig; her ex-husband, Malik Haig; her father, Bill Wade, and her siblings, Bill, Susan, Nancy and Steven, and their spouses and children.
She was predeceased by her mother.
A community memorial service will be held at All Souls Church on Main Street in Greenfield on Sunday, April 1, at 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be directed in the name of Rahima C. Wade to the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network (www.mbcn.org) or the National Foundation for Cancer Research (www.nfcr.org).