Jerry Wade

Funeral service for Jerry Wade will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, April 1, 2023 at Gillette Memorial Chapel; interment to follow at Mt. Pisgah Cemetery. Visitation will take place from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Friday, March 31, 2023 at Gillette Memorial Chapel. Jerry Wayne Wade passed from this world on March 24, 2023 from complications of a stroke. He was born in Pueblo, Colorado, on June 9, 1942, to Troy Lee and Hazel Augusta (Trammell) Wade.

Jerry attended school in Pueblo and enlisted in the Navy in 1959. He was stationed in San Diego, where his dad had also served, and performed maneuvers in Japan and Hawaii. After discharge, Jerry attended college for business and architecture and worked for the Operators’ Union in Colorado. He always loved music and recorded an LP playing the piano at age nine. He also played organ and guitar, usually classical, standards, or boogie-woogie.

After marrying Linda Gunnels in 1976, he moved the family to Gillette and worked on the construction of Belle Aye mine. He was hired by Amax as an accountant, but shifted to hourly and earned the nickname “Blade Wade” running equipment at Eagle Butte. He retired in 1995 after 17 years of service.

Jerry was a Mason and member of Eastern Star. He and Linda served as Worthy Patron and Worthy Matron in 1986-87. He was a Christian who preferred to commune with God in the Big Horns, where the family enjoyed camping. He also designed houses including the family home in Foothills. Later, he moved to Colorado City, Colorado, and returned to work for the Operators’ Union until retirement.

Jerry and Linda always welcomed their family into their home. Their children, Tammi Hitt, Bobby (Angie) Wade of Gillette, and Misti Wade (Billy Dean) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grandchildren, Jami (Brandon) Cone, Jenni Hitt, Erik Peck, Tycie (Matt Beasley), Kendra Wade, Trez (Laine) Adair, Jared Wade, Baylee Swenson, Shayna Wade (Jon Summers), Kiki and Quaid (Taylor) Neff and plus or minus ten great-grandkids loved barbecues on the deck, sleeping in the window seat, and bathing in the hot tub.

He moved back to Gillette in 2011 and lost his wife, Linda, to cancer. He married Rita in 2017.  He is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and his wife, Rita, and her children, Michael Rogers (Lesa Rogers) of Gillette, Sean and Ryan Rogers of Gillette and Erin Rogers of Longmont, CO. Condolences may be sent in care of Gillette Memorial Chapel 210 West 5^th Street, Gillette, WY 82716. Condolences may also be expressed at www.gillettememorialchapel.com