Dewey Wade Jenkins Jr.

Funeral services for Mr. Dewey Wade Jenkins, Jr. will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 10, 2024, at Elwood Baptist Church, Forest Hill, with Reverend Michael Evans officiating. Interment will follow in Butter Cemetery, Forest Hill, under the direction of Rush Funeral Home, Oakdale.
Dewey "Wade" Jenkins, Jr., of Forest Hill, Louisiana passed away on the morning of May 6, 2024, at the age of 77.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Dewey Jenkins, Sr. and Beulah "Tiny" Jenkins; his brother, Robert Jenkins; and his sister, Mary Ward, all of Longleaf and Forest Hill.
Wade was born in 1946 in Lecompte, Louisiana. He grew up in Longleaf and attended Glenmora High School, where he played on the Wildcats basketball team and went by the name "Snake." In 1966, he married his wife, Dianne Giles. During the Vietnam War, he served in the Air Force as a Radio Relay Repairman from 1968-1972. After that, he returned home and went to Nursing School to become a Registered Nurse. He worked at the VA Hospital in Pineville until 1986. He then joined the Air Force again as an Officer and Air Force Nurse and served until 2006. During this time, he deployed for Operation Desert Storm and rose to be the Medical Squadron Commander at RAF Croughton in England. After retiring from the Air Force, Wade volunteered with his church, the Forest Hill Senior Citizen Center, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Rapides Council on Aging, and the Disabled American Veterans. He helped too many people to list, but especially helped hundreds of veterans in filing claims to receive the benefits and care they had earned. His help will be greatly missed by many. Wade was known as a huge jokester and would try to make everyone he met laugh. His memory will be cherished as a friend who would step up to help anyone in need.
Those left to enjoy his memory are his loving wife of fifty-seven years, Dianne Jenkins; one sister, Patty Tolly; his children, David Jenkins and Chris Jenkins; his daughters-in-law, Delmis Jenkins and Wendi Jenkins; his grandchildren, Samantha, Tabitha, Sara, Kyle, Mallary, and Owen; his great grandchildren, Brayden, Finn, Beau, Milo, Alex, Josephine, and Jonathon "Wade"; and a long, long list of family and friends who were family to him.
A time of visitation will be held at Elwood Baptist Church, Forest Hill, on Thursday, May 9, 2024, from 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. Visitation will resume at the church on Friday, May 10, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. until time of service.
Honored to serve as pallbearers are: David Jenkins, Chris Jenkins, Kyle Jenkins, Owen Jenkins, David Bailey, Gordon Jeffers, and Brayden Lamkin.
Friends may post online messages of condolences for the Jenkins family by visiting www.rushfh.com