It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the death of Mark Wade (1939-2022).
Updated: His funeral will be at All Saints Church, Kesgrave on Monday 25th April at 13:00 with refreshments afterwards at the 1st Kesgrave Scout Hall. Family flowers only; any donations will be split between the Alzheimer's Society and the scout group.
Mark started out as a leader in 1st Kesgrave Scout Group on 28th October 1957, as soon as he turned 18 and only 30 years after the group was formed. He had been a member of the Scout Movement ever since. In those early days he was the Cub Leader and held meetings in the original hall which was a Nissan Hut. He ran the Cub Pack until 1975 and during that time also played his part in the original 'Kesgrave Kapers' (Gang Shows) that were held in the old KWMCC hall before the arrival of Grange Farm.
Mark then became the Assistant District Commissioner for Cubs within the Woodbridge area and in 1984 became the Assistant County Commissioner for Beavers at the time when Beavers were first formed as a section within Scouting.
In 2000, Mark returned to his roots and came back to our Kesgrave Group as a Beaver Leader, where he worked with Irene and the team until 2016 and at the same time helped with the Cub sections. And even in the last few years, as his health was not so good, he still caught the bus to help at the Cub meetings on a regular basis. In total he has given over 60 years’ service to Scouting and was awarded many awards over the years culminating in the Silver Wolf in 2008. He also has a road (Wades Grove) named after him on Grange Farm in the Scouting and Guiding area. We will remember him as a “corner stone” of our Group, always ready to help, always calm and smiling, and always with a huge supply of ideas, resources and activities at his fingertips to make Scouting happen.
He will be sadly missed.
Celia Comber