Miriam Wade

Miriam Ruth (Eaton) Wade was born November 8, 1929 in Garden City, Kansas, the eldest child of Ralph and Lois (Gorton) Eaton. Miriam graduated from high school in 1948 in Leoti, Kansas. She attended Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, where she met her future husband, Donald C. Wade. They were married December 18, 1948. Miriam and Don taught in Roxbury, Kansas while Don continued his schooling. They lived for a time in Texas and Illinois while he was in seminary and eventually moved to Indiana in 1954 when Don was appointed to serve the New Richmond Methodist Church. They relocated several times over the next 30+ years in serving Methodist/United Methodist churches in Covington, Lafayette, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Noblesville, and Linton. Miriam obtained a Bachelor’s degree in education in 1972 at Butler University in Indianapolis. She later obtained her master’s degree from Indiana State University. She taught developmentally disabled and visually impaired students for twenty-one years in Central Indiana, all while continuing her involvement in the churches where Don served. In 1985 she and Don returned to Indianapolis where he served at Old Bethel United Methodist Church. After Don contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion in 1984, he and Miriam devoted themselves to AIDS awareness and to ministry to AIDS patients and their families. For their courage in the face of the disease, they received the Indianapolis Jaycees Award for Heroism in 1988. Don died in 1990. Miriam retired from teaching in 1994. Her retirement years were busy with volunteer work, short-term missions, and world travel. She regularly participated in activities at the Shepherd’s Center at North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, and enjoyed being part of Tiebinders, an association of retirees. She was a member of Bethel United Methodist Church. Miriam enjoyed performances at Indiana Repertory Theater and the Indianapolis Symphony. She was active in ministry in teaching Sunday School, playing piano and singing in the choir in many of the churches Don served. She loved drawing and painting and traveling around the U.S. and abroad with friends and family. She was a supporter of Habitat for Humanity and PFLAG. She will be remembered for her love of family, service to the church, and for her compassion and advocacy for equality of all persons. Miriam is survived by her children, Michelle Freeman, Crawfordsville, IN, David Wade (Jenny), Arcadia, IN, Judith Wade and Carol Wade, Indianapolis; two grandsons, Chris and David Freeman, Ladoga, IN; six great-grandchildren; and siblings, Virginia Davis (Tom), Kent, OH, and Roger Eaton (Donna), Albuquerque, NM. You are invited to go to the Guest Book page to pass along your personal message or tell a story. Sincerely, -Your friends at Flanner and Buchanan