Lottie Nash Wade's Obituary
Lottie V. Nash Wade (age 97), resident of Memphis, Tennessee, passed away on September 10, 2022. Lottie was preceded in death by her parents, Elgin and Beulah Nash, and beloved husband, William Doyle Wade.
She is survived by three children: William Nash Wade [Laura Ellen], Marylane Wade Koch [Robert], and Leslie Alvin Wade [Robin Roberts]. Her grandchildren include Matthew Pierce [Kiva], Dylan Wade, Chelsea Collins [Matthew], and Meredith Koch. Great grandchildren include Amelia, Evangeline, and Isaac Pierce, and Grace, Josephine, and Theodore Collins.
Lottie graduated in 1942 from Rienzi High School in Alcorn County, Mississippi, receiving honors as class valedictorian. At the age of 17 she moved to Memphis, looking one day to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher. Upon completing her program at Draughton’s Business School, she took her first job as a bookkeeper with the H. J. Heinz Company. She later held employment with Hancock House, an interior design and gift store. In these years Lottie displayed a determination unusual for a woman of this time. She paid her way to school by working at the boarding home where she lived. At age 19 she went through the court system to declare herself legally 21, so she could buy a house.
While working and raising her family, Lottie continued to pursue her long-term goal. She took classes at Memphis State, completing her BA in elementary education. She later received her M.Ed. degree and certification in Special Ed. In 1963 Lottie began her career as a teacher at White Station Elementary. She taught many summers in Project Head Start, a government program preparing disadvantaged children for educational success.
Lottie found her true calling at Shady Grove Elementary, inspiring legions of children over the decades of her career. Hired in 1964 to launch the school’s kindergarten program, she was employed at Shady Grove for 27 years, both as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher. Upon her retirement, Lottie learned that the first-ever Shady Grove yearbook had been dedicated to her. The school had a surprise “Lottie Wade Day” celebration. Many former students, Memphis Board of Education leaders, teachers, parents as well as family and friends came to honor her on this day. Retirement did not end Lottie’s dedication to the school. She continued to work as a substitute teacher until the age of 88, when she shifted to fulltime volunteer service. Lottie was in the classroom as she headed into her nineties. The school honored her again on her 90th birthday, an event that brought a front-page news story and attention from the Memphis media. A hallway in the school was dedicated as the “Wade’s Wing.”
Lottie also gave abiding love and care to her family and friends. She taught her own children to honor service and education. She took great delight in their accomplishments, all gaining advanced degrees. She was grateful for her loving marriage and the many rich experiences enjoyed with her husband, Doyle. During his cancer treatment she stayed close at this side, cooking homemade biscuits and nurturing him and his health for almost two years until his death. Lottie’s abundant love has blessed the lives of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Family reunions at the Wade farmhouse came as special times, with many sharing their affection for “Aunt Lottie.”
Lottie’s passing invites us to celebrate her deeply held faith, natural generosity, and appreciation of life’s wonder. She attended Leawood Baptist, Germantown Church of Christ, White Station Church of Christ, and Byhalia United Methodist. She modeled Christian compassion, nurturing
each child who entered her classroom, without racial, socio-economic, or cultural bias. For Lottie, learning was a life-long endeavor, promoting the value of arts, music, travel, and sports. She enjoyed many cross-country mission trips with Snowdown and Valdosta Churches of Christ, and at age 91 she toured New York City with her granddaughter Meredith. Lottie highly regarded Duke’s Coach K, along with Ole Miss’s Archie Manning and sons.
Lottie’s life is a testament to her ceaseless regard for God’s creation, her refusal to accept limits to learning, and her unwavering belief that God loves all the children of the world.
In remembrance of Lottie Nash Wade, the family asks, in lieu of flowers, that charitable donations be made to the Memphis Union Mission, the Society of St. Andrew (ecumenical hunger relief), Recife Brazil Children’s Home (Bellevue Church of Christ/Nashville, TN), or the University of Memphis College of Education’s River City Partnership.
Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery will host a private service on Monday, September 19 (11 AM) for immediate family only, with streaming video available for family and friends who wish to join us. Please see www.memorialparkonline.com for further information and link to streaming.
To view the service online, please click on the link below;
http://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/78537/hash:F470887CDD6595F7
Link celebrating Lottie Wade's 90th birthday party below;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d47a8dgv1qk
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