Johnnie Wade

Johnnie Wade Obituary A graveside service to honor and remember the life of Johnnie Wade will be 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at Laurel Land Memorial Park, 6300 S R L Thornton Fwy, Dallas, TX 75232. Johnnie passed away on December 25, 2023. He was 73.Johnnie Ray Wade, Jr. was born on August 1, 1950 to Johnnie Ray Wade, Sr. and Doris Jean Redmon Wade. He grew up in a quintessential 1950s household. His parents worked hard and had success owning their own businesses. He had one younger brother, Jerry Wade. The South Dallas area known as Oak Cliff was where he grew up, very involved in the Southern Baptist Churches his family attended and playing baseball. He graduated from Kimball High School and attended college in Tyler, Texas. He was a 10 year Reservist with the Air National Guard. He married the love of his life, Leslie Kay Putz Averitt Wade, on an icy cold January day almost exactly 45 years ago on January 1, 1979. Dallas sat paralyzed under a huge ice storm landing planes and closing roads and the airport. They still got married and made their own warmth for the next 42 years. He had one son and she had two. These three boys, Todd, Ben, and Daniel would greatly benefit from the good, strict, faithful, hardworking man that would raise them up. Johnnie worked in the family businesses and when his father, "Senior," retired he would run National Decal and Nameplate Company. He would continually use this platform to be a blessing to others. He served the homeless in Dallas by working with the Union Gospel Mission for 25 years culminating by being head of the Board of Directors. He faithfully served in Southern Baptist Churches in the Duncanville area. Whether running the Sunday School class, the visitation committee, the sports leagues-there have been many stories shared through the years of the First Baptist Duncanville volleyball league, or any other need that arose, Johnnie was there and usually there before anyone else showed up. He loved to be busy and organized. Everything was always done right and punctually. He loved playing golf, ping pong, and of course fishing. He loved designing and building houses as an amateur architect with at least five houses to his credit including two in the Cedar Creek Lake area, a place he greatly loved. He was a caregiver, caring first for his mother and then for his wife for over two decades, selflessly and without any thought of what it was costing him. He lived the words of Christ, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." In the last 27 years of his life, his grandchildren and great grandchildren were his delight. He never missed a game, a practice, a recital, or a performance. He knew what was going on in all their lives. He was always there. Helping. Serving. Caring. Laughing. His stories were the absolute best and the joy and delight of his grandchildren. There was always an encouraging word, and he always did anything he could to help. He lived his life for others. We will live on trying to do that in his honor. We are broken-hearted to lose him for a while, but are glad that he is with his Savior Jesus Christ whom he loved from childhood, and his beloved wife and best friend, Leslie who we called Nannie. We will see you soon, Big Daddy. We are so grateful for you. Johnnie Ray was preceded in death by his parents, known to the family as Grannie and Gramps, and brother, Jerry Wade, and son, Daniel. He is survived by his two sons Todd and Ben and their families. Todd is married to Donna and they share two sons and three granddaughters, Faith, Hope, and Grace. Ben is married to Lisa and they share five children, Hannah, Rachel, son-in-law, Augustus, Abigail, Benjamin, and Thomas. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Johnnie Wade, please visit our floral store. Read More

Johnnie Wade

August 1, 1950 - December 25, 2023