Dr. Herbert L. Wade Jr

dr. herbert wade

December 12, 1941 ~ December 16, 2021

Born in: Harlingen, Texas
Resided in: Bryan, Texas

Herbert L. Wade, Jr. 80, died Thursday, December 16, 2021, at his home in Bryan. Funeral arrangements are with Callaway-Jones Funeral Centers of Bryan College Station.

Herb was born in Harlingen, Texas, to Mary Lou and Herbert Wade, Sr. He graduated from Baylor University in 1964 and the University of Texas School of Dentistry in 1971. While at Baylor, he was set up on a blind date with Sally Dee Cole. Their resulting 57-year marriage was a partnership built on love, faith, respect, mutual admiration and a lot of laughter.

Herb and Sally Dee moved to Bryan in 1971, where Herb established the area’s first pediatric dentistry practice. Until his retirement in 2014, Dr. Wade enthusiastically greeted his young patients and made them feel both at ease and important. His demeanor (along with a model train that sped around his office) made a trip to the dentist a treat.

Herb’s commitment to excellence defined his leadership roles. In high school, Herb was elected governor of the American Legion Boys State program and vice president of Boys Nation. He also served as junior class president at Baylor and as junior and senior class president at the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston.   His years of involvement in the Texas Dental Association (TDA) and in the American Dental Association included serving as president of the TDA and the 7th District Dental Society. In 1999, Herb was named the Academy of General Dentistry’s Texas Dentist of the Year and University of Texas Dental Branch Alumnus of the Year in 2006.

Over the course of his five decades in Bryan, Herb served as president of the Bryan school board and of the Region 7 Educational Service Center, a director of the First National Bank, a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, a founding member of the Brazos Valley Arts Council, a member of the local Gideons camp for 31years, and he established and implemented a local Head Start dental program.  After his retirement from his dental practice, he became chairman of the board of the local Salvation Army. Herb and Sally Dee were also members of the First Baptist Church of Bryan, where Herb served as a deacon and as a Sunday school teacher.

Of all his involvements, though, Herb was most invested in his family. When Mark and Connally moved away and started their own families, Herb and Sally Dee travelled to their grandchildren’s events. Lifetime memories were created at the family lake house, where “Dado’s” grandchildren learned not only to water ski, but also valuable lessons about the importance of family.

Herb demonstrated to his children and grandchildren a Christ-centered life:   to love and provide for family, to serve others, to be kind to everyone, to maintain a sense of humor, and, above all else, to love and serve the Lord.

Herb was preceded in death by his parents.

Survivors include his wife, Sally Dee, of Bryan; his son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Leslie Wade, of Arlington; his daughter and son-in-law, Connally and Loren Vandiver, of Houston; his brother, Charles Wade, of Houston; his sister, Jerry Louise Sample, of Knoxville, Tennessee; and his grandchildren, Wade Burchett, Cole and Tyler Wade, and Sean, Mary and Mollie Reagin.

Family and friends are invited to a time of come and go visitation from 3 to 5pm Sunday, December 19, at Callaway-Jones Funeral Center in Bryan. A private family burial will be at College Station City Cemetery. There will be a Celebration of Life at 2pm Monday, December 20, at First Baptist Church in Bryan.

In lieu of flowers, please consider sending donations in memory of Dr. Wade to the Salvation Army of BCS at https://www.salvationarmytexas.org/bryancollegestation/ or to Gideons International at https://www.gideons.org

Services

Visitation: December 19, 2021 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Callaway-Jones Funeral Home & Cremation Center
3001 S College Ave
Bryan, TX 77801

979-822-3717
https://callawayjones.com

Celebration of Life Tribute: December 20, 2021 2:00 pm

First Baptist Church - Bryan
3100 Cambridge Dr
Bryan, TX 77802

979-776-1400
http://fbcbryan.org

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Tribute Video

Memories Timeline

Guestbook

  1. I grew up on 502 East Polk, just 3 or 4 blocks from where Butch grew up and we were the same age. We have talked often about how he would come to my house to play and we would get under my mother’s grand piano and play like we were on a submarine and the pipes going up from the pedals were our conning tower where we could sight the enemy ships and sink them. We re probably about 4 at the time. I went on to military school,. Texas Military Institute in San Antonio and then the Naval Academy and Butch distinguished himself as a star athlete and student. Our love lives were similar, we both married women we met on a blind date. We must have gotten married about the same time as I would have been married to my wife for 57 years this year had she not passed away from the treatment for her small breast cancer tumor almost 5 years ago. They cured her cancer, but the Neulasta they gave her destroyed her lungs. We ran into Butch and Sally Dee at the 50th high school reunion of HHS and while I didn’t go there, my wife and I were allowed to attend as guests. One of the high points for us was getting to know Butch and Sally Dee better after the festivities. What a charming couple they were, and we stayed in touch after that. I now wish I had taken him up on the many invitations he had offered to come out to his lake house. He was certainly a very special man, a loving father and husband and a talented pediatric dentist. My prayers are with his family after this tragedy

  2. Dear Sally Dee, I was so sorry to hear of Herb’s passing. I sure have enjoyed our our friendship for all the many years. Especially the times we got to spend together at Lake Raburn ! You and your Family will be in my thoughts and prayers . Take Care…. Tipton

  3. Dear Sally Dee, I am very sad to hear of the loss of Herb. The old foursome Herb, Aquilles, Tip, and I had a lot of fun being together in Dental School and later when we could get together. We always had a great time when we were with Herb! Janice and I will pray for you and your family. Sincerely Janice and Joel

  4. Dear Sally Dee,
    I am so sorry for your loss of your distinguished and accomplished husband. He used the gifts God had given him to serve his church, his profession and other associations, his community, and of course his family. You have wonderful memories to bring to mind when grief clouds your thoughts. This is a quotation that I think rings true:
    “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in the hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” So give yourself permission to grieve as the last expression of your love for Herb, and know that God will “give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” (Isaiah 61)

  5. So sorry to hear this news. Our children loved him as their dentist. The Connally family connection was also wonderful. Our daughter is now a dentist and met Herb through his involvement with TDA. He always knew exactly who she was.
    Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

  6. Dear Sally Dee,

    I’m so sorry about Herb’s passing.
    Please accept my deepest condolences, and may you find strength in the Lord in the days ahead.

  7. I am thinking of my Uncle Butch today. He was sweet, funny and full of life. I enjoyed our family reunions and the last time I saw him, he and Sally Dee along with (Charles) Bubba and Barbara Wade came to Knoxville for a visit. It was the last of lasts. My father and now Butch. Rest In Peace my sweet uncle. Whenever I hear thunder now I will assume you are firing your potato gun. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love always.
    Your niece
    Sally

  8. So sad to hear of Dr Wade’s passing. Julie and I were Aggie Football seat neighbors with he and Sally for the last few years, and I really loved getting to talk to him every Saturday. Very sorry for the family’s loss. He made the world a better place for all that knew him.

    Brian and Julie Karnes

  9. Dear Sally Dee and Family,
    I am so sorry to learn of Herb’s passing; I saw his name listed in the “memoriam column” in the newsletter from the Dental School. I am glad that he is with His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Herb was a really neat person; so sorry I missed his service. There were four of us in Lab 3X during our first and second years of Dental School. The four of us were Larry Thompson, Ted Trippe, myself and Herb Wade. We spent more time together, from September,1965 through the spring of 1967, than our own physical families. I was glad that Krista and I could spend time with Herb during his term as President of the TDA, when he came to Odessa, Texas.
    Ted Trippe passed away last summer; I am certain that he and Herb are reunited in Heaven. All four of us were very successful in our dental practices and treated so many patients with kindness, caring and expertise befitting our profession.
    Sally Dee, I pray that your family would understand the personal integrity and character of Herb and all of us that made up Lab 3X. May the Lord bless you and keep you, May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you, and may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His Peace.
    Our love and deepest sympathy to you and your family.
    David & KristaTurner


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