Sara Caldwell Hunter Wade

1931 - 2025

Sara Caldwell Hunter Wade

January 7, 1931 - January 31, 2025

Charlotte, North Carolina - Sara Caldwell Hunter Wade died Friday, January 31, 2025. She was born on January 7, 1931, to the late Boyce Wilson Hunter and Marion Malone Hunter.

Sara's birth and babyhood-she was affectionately known as Sara-baby to her older sister Meechie-occurred as Charlotte became the most populous city in the state. For 93 years, except for her stints at UNC-G (known then as Woman's College or WC) and Dothan, Alabama when husband Jake was stationed at Fort Rucker, Sara and Charlotte were joined at the hip. From play days on Sherwood Avenue, to good times at Central High School where Sara and Jake dated, to the marriage and family Sara attended to with a gentle touch, Sara and Charlotte grew up side by side.

Over their 93 years together, Charlotte and Sara saw a lot of good restaurants, but family and friends would say that if you wanted the best chicken casserole in town, go to Sara's kitchen, and not to forget her tasty chicken salad (whose secret ingredient would make Charlotte's Duke's Mayo Bowl proud).

One thing Charlotte doesn't have is an ocean. It's why Sara migrated with her children every summer to the family's ancestral beach, where crossing the draw bridge was like coming home. Wrightsville Beach is where Sara rocked, on the porch that is, setting in motion the biggest unsolved mystery of Sara's life: how a person could love the beach so much and never set foot on it.

Charlotte also doesn't have a ski slope, which led Sara to Sugar Mountain, where she never went skiing. Happily, for her family, she was an expert in ski attire, not that she ever wore any herself. She could see the slopes just fine from the house.

As Charlotte grew to embrace sports, Sara did not. She was an unapologetic non-athlete who cared as much about knowing the rules and following the box scores as she did about deep-sea fishing, but that didn't stop her from attending every football, basketball, and baseball game played by her children and coached by her husband.

Charlotte does have The Junior League and The Charlotte Assembly, which Sara joined, along with her book and garden clubs, and she was a long-time member of Christ Church, but her passion, the thing that got her up in the morning and kept her engaged until she went to bed, was caring for and caring about her family and friends.

Sara was a kind spirit, not a mean bone in her body, but if someone said Charlotte had too many dogs, Sara might become defensive. She loved every size, every pedigree, no pedigree, every temperament, and every level of canine intelligence or lack thereof. The idea of too many dogs was as foreign to Sara as pulling for Duke basketball. Mollie, Sara's last dog in a long line of dogs, was particularly dear to her, a relative Sara spoiled as much as any family member.

Although Sara was bedridden the last three years of her life, she never complained. She did yell at squirrels, though, "to get away from there," and for good reason. She liked to feed and look after the birds, not the squirrels.

Many good things have happened in Charlotte in the last 93 years, and Sara's presence can now be counted among them. When it was time for Sara to do her life's work, she applied for and made a career on the home front. Her specialty was love and although she excelled in her field, she was never promoted, she never got a major award, and she never retired. The last words she spoke were, "I love you." Sara continued the work she'd been called to do until the very end.

Sara is survived by her children, Julius Jennings Wade, III (Jay) and Amelia Ann Wade Worley; her grandchildren, Malone Wade Lockaby, Quinn Wade Yi, Carney Wade, Abbey Wade, Julius Jennings Wade, IV (Jake), SaraAnn Worley, and Stuart Worley; her chosen family member, Jay Powell; and a host of loved nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren, and great nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Jake; her son, Jimmy and her sisters, Marion and Amelia (Meechie).

The family is grateful to Ann Roddey Bernhardt and her husband, Stephen for their unwavering management of Sara's care, to the emotional support provided by Oliver Hunter Roddey, and to Sara's daily caregivers, Phyllis Dapaah, Linda Fender, and Agnes Koine, all of whom filled Sara's days with extraordinary assistance, love, and laughter. The family appreciates the dedicated staff of Novant Health Hospice and Palliative Care.

A memorial service to celebrate Sara's life will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at Christ Episcopal Church. The family will receive friends following the service in the Blue Room.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Christ Episcopal Church, 1412 Providence Road, Charlotte, NC 28207 or Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary, 248 Ridgewood Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28209 or The Humane Society of Charlotte, 1348 Parker Drive, Charlotte, NC 28208.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.