Kenneth M. Wade

On November 10, at 4:20 AM "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt" for Kenneth M. Wade. May his memory be a blessing.
He was born in Alexandria Virginia July 29, 1947, and spent his early years in Colorado before moving to Marin County California where he began to develop his love of languages and people, even attending Hebrew School (though he was not Jewish) to broaden his knowledge.
He graduated from San Rafael High School in 1965 and was accepted to Harvard, (which his parents deemed too expensive at $1200 a year) but chose to attend the University of California at Berkeley. His time at Berkeley encompassed many of the protests for which the school is famous, including the Free Speech Movement and the People's Park. He was a founding member of the Frogs of Freedom party which ran (unsuccessfully, unfortunately) for student government. During this time, he made many dear lifelong friends, including Brian and Kitty Wells, Tom Brockback, Buck Lindsey, Bob Thompson and Rick Razinikov. He graduated in 1969 with a major in Political Science and a minor in European Languages.
The summer of 1968 was spent traveling Europe, a trip for which he had saved and planned since he was nine years old and had a job folding towels for a beauty shop. This trip sparked a lifelong passion for new people and new places which he cultivated until he died.
In 1968, he met Sue Bartholomew, and they were married at the Presidio in San Francisco in December of 1969.
After graduation from Berkeley, he worked at a gas station and had a brief career with the US Postal Service before attending Humboldt State University in Arcata, California to pursue a degree in Elementary Education. It was here he met another lifelong friend, John Toso, and got to know cousin Stewart Hanna.
His first "real" teaching job was in South Lake Tahoe California where he worked for two years. Then it was on to Davis California to teach a multiage class while he pursued a Master's degree in History and Philosophy and Sue pursued her BA.
Their first two daughters, Annemieke Dryden Falkenbury Wade and Penelope Kaia Wade were born during this time.
After he obtained his Master's degree, the family went East for the summer and although he had never taken any administrative classes, he took an exam to be a principal and passed with such a high score that he had no trouble getting jobs as, first, an assistant principal in Bellows Falls, Vermont and then a full principal job in Laconia, New Hampshire. There he met dear friends Tom and Jeanette Ruffle.
In 1981, their third daughter, Vera Catherine Lindsey Wade was born in Hanover, New Hampshire.
By 1984, Ken was ready for something new, so the family moved to Sue's home state, Vermont, where he was principal of the Fairfield School for 5 years, helping oversee the construction of a new addition to the school. He also pursued further education, and was "all but dissertation" for his doctorate from the University of Vermont.
In 1990, Ken had the good fortune to pursue his true calling: that of college professor at Champlain College. He began with teaching computer applications, but when the college expanded its learning, he became a professor in the CORE, teaching history, philosophy, brain science, sociology and many specialized courses with specific topics, such as one focusing on the country of Turkey.
The professorship at Champlain also offered him travel opportunities. He spent two semesters teaching at Champlain's Israel campus in Tel Aviv. He taught in Mumbai, India, and was thrilled to give the graduation address in Hindi (which he had learned phonetically). He spent time in Istanbul learning the culture and languages of Turkey for his courses. He took a sabbatical to Ireland, making friends with Mags Lehane and comedian Cieran McMahon, "cousin" Justin Wade and others, and studied the connection between Irish humor and the humor of northern Vermont, where many Irish farmers migrated. The summer after he retired, in 2017, he took an immersion course in the Dutch language in Utrecht, for which he was even issued a bicycle!
Ken traveled through Europe individually with each of his three daughters and attended James Joyce conferences with his daughter Penelope in Toronto, Canada and Antwerp, Netherlands where he delivered a paper on humor in Joyce's Ulysses.
Ken's daughter, Visi, lived in Japan for 20 years, which created opportunities to travel there with the family three times, and he loved the people and culture. Because of his white beard, children would run up to him on the street shouting "Santa Claus! Santa Claus!"
There was yet another career, that of an actor. Ken played Sir in The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd and the Old Actor in The Fantasticks for Lyric Theatre, Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor for Lake Champlain Shakespeare Festival, Peachum and Tiger Brown in different productions of Three Penny Opera and many lovely roles for The Champlain Players, including Gloucester in King Lear, Bottom in Midsummer's Night's Dream, and Adam Trask in East of Eden.
He particularly loved the role of Polonius in Hamlet because his somewhat rebellious oldest daughter Mieke played his daughter Ophelia in the same production. He insisted that they practice the line "I shall obey, my lord" over and over in public.
As a voice over actor, Ken was delighted to work for Alex Ball at Shadow Productions, His commercials for Lake Champlain Chocolates and Vermont Teddy Bear were broadcast on radio nationwide, though Ken was chagrined that the Teddy Bear commercial ran during the Rush Limbaugh show, with which he strongly disagreed politically!
He wrote a monthly humor column for the IBM inhouse magazine called End User and his column Truly Rural, reflections on Vermont Life, ran in the St. Albans Messenger for several years.
Ken loved holding court at the dinner table with family and friends, and dinners were considered a success if at least one person had to leave the table after shooting their water out of their nose in the middle of a laugh. He was beloved for his quick wit and sense of humor, his deep faith in people, and his encyclopedic knowledge of just about everything. Able to speak at least four languages fluently, he was a true polymath. He loved to sing, play guitar and listen to music, particularly Gordon Bok, Tanya Savory and Chuck Pyle.
He enjoyed attending the First Congregational Church of St. Albans, though over the course of his lifetime he embraced many different faiths.
In the last few years his health hampered his ability to travel, although he was hopeful that he could take one last trip to the West Coast to see his friends. His mind stayed active however, and he was still learning from the Great Courses and Nova (with a particular interest in early man) and beating us all in Jeopardy up until two days before his final illness, and even in the Emergency Department at the hospital.
He was predeceased by his parents, Kenneth L Wade and Katherine Wade, his brother Leon Merrick, his sisters Kathleen Campagne and Carol Sue Ripplinger.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 56 years, Sue Bartholomew Wade, his daughters Annemieke DFS Wade (Cameron Johnston), Penelope K Wade (Rover Sherry), Vera Catherine L Wade Suzui (Masahiro Wade Suzui), his brother, Robert Merrick of Idaho, grandchildren, Vesper Johnston, Lyric Johnston, Ariande Suzui and Dryden (Masakazu) Suzui, his brother, Robert Merrick of Idaho, brother-in-law Leon Ripplinger of California, chosen sons, Russell Wolff (Veronica Guzzardi) and Jonathan Brett (Adam Bailey), a nephew, nieces, (particularly Alice, Laura, and Rebecca), and cousins and canine companion, Eddie.
There will be no calling hours, but a Celebration of Life will be held at the Congregational Church of St. Albans on Friday, November 28th, at a time to be determined.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to your local food bank, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, Attn: Program Support Department, 187 St. Paul Street – Suite 104, Burlington, Vermont 05401 or Vermont Public, 365 Troy Avenue, Colchester, Vermont 05446, and if you can be anything, be kind.
Honored to be serving the family of Ken Wade is Rett Heald of the Heald Funeral Home, where messages of condolence are welcomed at www.healdfuneralhome.com.