DURHAM — Mary Margaret Wade, died in Durham N.C., Sunday, June 10, 2007.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 23, at the Angle Amphitheater at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke University, Durham N.C.
Mary was an artist, humanitarian, and friend to scores.
Her lifelong devotion to alleviating suffering through art culminated in her most recent work at Duke University Hospital, where she was program director with Arts for Life-Duke. Serving children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, Ms. Wade helped to restore a sense of normalcy to her young patients and their families by inspiring them to create art during long periods of treatment.
Ms. Wade was involved in many causes relating to the environment and other social issues and she served on many boards including the Cape Lookout Environmental Camp and the Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South.
Ms. Wade was born in Winston-Salem, N.C., on December 30, 1948. She graduated from RJ Reynolds High School, attended Queens College in Charlotte, N.C., and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism. She received her Master's Degree in special education from Howard University. She worked in graphic design and cartooning in Washington, DC, Greensboro, N.C., St. Petersburg, Fla., and Atlanta, Ga., where she also taught art at The Atlanta School. Her drawings were published in books edited by Gordon Lish and her cartoons appeared weekly in Southline in Atlanta. Her artwork was featured in a special issue of Art Papers magazine devoted to the 1996 Olympic Games. Ms. Wade was director of the Olympics Project at Nexus Press in Atlanta in which one artist from each continent was selected to be in-residence and produce an artists' book at the press.
Ms. Wade was the center of a devoted circle of family and friends which grew ever wider throughout her life.
She is survived by her mother, Margaret Wade of Winston-Salem, N.C.; her sister, Ruth Wade Ross of Chapel Hill, N.C.; her nephews, John Ross and wife, Carolyn of New Preston, Conn. and Lyle Ross and wife, Lizzie of San Francisco, Calif.; and an aunt, Ruth Henry McLelland of Davidson, N.C.
Her father, Charles B. Wade, Jr. and her brother, Byrd Wade predeceased her.
In lieu of flowers, Ms. Wade requested that donations be made to The GYN-Oncology Research Fund, attn: Dr. Andrew Berchuck, Duke Medical Center, Box 3079, Durham, NC 27710; The Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South, 1202 Watts Street, Durham, NC 27701; or Arts for Life-Duke, 301 Monticello Road, Weaverville NC 28787.
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