Glen David Wade, 78, of Thomaston, Georgia, passed away on September 28, 2024. Glen was born fifth of six children in McMinnville, Oregon on October 23, 1945 to Eva Beatrice Cole and Harold Gilbert Wade. His parents owned sawmills in Oregon and Montana, and a farm where he was raised until the age of 12, when his father opened a store in Walla Walla, Washington. Glen spoke fondly of his life on the farm, and always declared the sweetest water in the world was from a freshwater spring on the family's sawmill property in Meacham, Oregon.

Glen was a man of many interests. He led an exploratory life of travel and discovery while working a variety of jobs—from medic, firefighter, and chemist, to classical music radio DJ, pastor, missionary, and international development project leader.

After graduating from high school, Glen served for two years as a medic for the U.S. Army in Darmstadt, Germany during the Vietnam War. After completing his military service, he studied chemistry at Montana State University in Dillon, Montana, where he met and married Connie Louise Rancourt. The young couple moved to Boise, Idaho, where Glen worked as a chemist for Northern Testing Labs for two and a half years before he felt a call to the ministry. He studied theology at Walla Walla College, and in 1973 received his bachelor's in theology from Canadian Union College in Lacombe, Alberta.

In 1975, Glen earned his master's of divinity from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. His first pastoral call was to Newfoundland, Canada, where he pastored Seventh-day Adventist churches across the island for five years before moving to Hamilton, then Niagara Falls, Ontario, to pursue a doctorate in biblical, Babylonian, and ancient Semitic languages (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Akkadian, and Ugaritic) at McMaster University.

In 1983, Glen felt a call to missions, and moved with his family to West Africa to lead churches and missions in Yele, Sierra Leone, and Banjul, The Gambia. After returning to the United States in 1987, he pastored churches in upstate New York, then Maryland, before leading international development efforts for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Indonesia and India. After Glen's retirement, he continued to work on causes and passions he supported, including the 2010 census and the 2012 Obama campaign. One of his proudest retirement accomplishments was driving the press van in the presidential motorcade for one of Vice President Joe Biden's campaign visits to Las Vegas.

Glen loved nature, and was especially fond of birds, frequently referencing his Golden Field Guide to Birds of North America and his Collins Field Guide to the Birds of West Africa. He adored orchestras, grand cathedral pipe organs, macaroni beet salad, and spicy foods, but disliked early mornings and cucumbers. He instilled a love of music in his daughters, playing reel-to-reel tapes and records of classical music while helping them identify the different instruments, or singing and playing songs on his guitar (James Taylor's Fire and Rain and Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising were favorites). He was an introverted night owl who often preferred the privacy of his study, but was always up for a rousing theological debate. He was a fan of Solomonic wisdom and Winnie the Pooh's Eeyore, whose gloomy outlook often suited his mood, but was an able medical caretaker, always ready to supply first aid and empathy to a sick or unlucky child. He was sometimes sentimental, saving whatever he thought might be interesting or valuable; as an early adopter of home computing technology, he was especially fond of his Exidy Sorcerer Apprentice, keeping it through forty years of household moves. He loved learning new things and studying complex concepts, but sometimes preferred simpler activities, like splitting wood, berry picking, feeding chickens out of his hand, or browsing the Internet.

Glen was predeceased by his parents, his sister Shirley Wade, and his two brothers, James Wade and Jerry Wade. He is survived by a son and two daughters—Larry Penland, Tasha Wade, and Amy Wade—as well as his partner, Mary Lake, and his former wife, Connie Wade. He will also be missed by two sisters, Judi Sundsted and Joyce Hill.

Memorial Services will be held at a later date.