Wade B Dick Sr was born on New Year's Day (1903) in Donora PA, s/o Perry C Dick & Burnetta E Evans. Though he was the first to live to adulthood, Wade was the 3rd of seven siblings. Growing up, he lived in many industrial towns. The family was living in Irvington near Indianapolis IN when he graduated high school. His father Perry had always sold his services on a self-employed basis, wherever there was a chance in a budding auto industry for advancement. Hence the many moves. Early on Wade held a number of jobs himself, and did not marry until he was 27. He eloped to Bowling Green OH with Thelma E Firman in Mar 1930. They met near the end of the Roaring 20s, while he was playing cornet (horn) in a band. The Great Depression set in, and Wade became a serious provider - a trait he held the rest of his life. By the time he became owner of a local vending machine business in Pontiac MI (early 40s), Wade was evolving into a workaholic. The era was one where prosperity was doubly hard to achieve - the recovery from the Depression had dovetailed into a wartime USA, with constraints imposed on businesses due to rationing and shortages of commercial real estate. Just as local domestic stressors were beginning to ease (c1947) and conditions were brightening, Wade began to develop health issues. Raised in the Christian Science faith, he disdained reliance upon doctors. They should be persons of last resort - to his thinking. By 1949 Wade was suffering agonizing bouts of abdominal pain. Finally, seeking a doctor's help he was diagnosed with a case of acute ulceration of the stomach. He was hospitalized for many weeks and - due to costs he had not prepared for - was forced to sell his business. By late 1949, the family was living in Commerce Twp, west of Pontiac. Wade returned to work, as a repairman for another vending machine business. In Dec 1952, he died of a massive heart attack at home, ae 49. Wade & Thelma's children were - Richard Eugene (1932-2000), Wade B II (living), Robert Evans Dick (1951-2011).