Dr. Herbert L. Wade Jr

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 7^th 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