Edward Wade

SOUTH CASCO — Edward A. Wade, 96, of South Casco and formerly of Orono, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, with his wife and five children at his side.

The son of Leslie and Margaret Wade, he was born Dec. 14, 1921, in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised in Buffalo, N.Y., and San Diego, Calif.

During WWII, he worked as a toolmaker and machinist for Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego, helping to produce B-24s and Catalina aircraft for the war effort. After the war he earned a PhD in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He held research positions at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, focused on improving cockpit ergonomics. He helped design flight simulators for Link Aviation, and at Tufts University he performed research for the partial pressure suit used in the Space Race. He then settled into a career as a Professor of Psychology at the University of Maine at Orono. His professional interests included visual perception and behaviorism.

Edward met his wife, Frances Elena Leighton, when working together at the Bio-Mechanics Lab of Tufts University, where he was a member of a multidisciplinary, human factors research team and she served as research assistant and secretary. They fell in love while exploring the jazz clubs of Cambridge and Boston, and Ed endeared Fran’s father during long nights of playing chess. Ed and Fran were married in Casco in 1958. They had five children whom they raised in Orono during the academic year and at Fran’s longtime family property on Sebago Lake during summers in a cabin built by Edward and his father-in-law. They moved permanently to South Casco upon his retirement from the University of Maine in 1987.

In addition to his wife, Fran, Edward is survived by five children: Denise, Lisa, Leslie, Heidi and Kim; his brother Andrew Wade of San Diego; eight grandchildren: David, Caryn, Christina, Peyton, Cameron, Kevin, Carter and Casco; and three great-grandchildren, Ethan, Owen and Emily, and their husbands, wives and extended family members. He will be dearly missed.

Visitation to celebrate Ed’s life will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 3rd, at Hall Funeral Home, 165 Quaker Ridge Road, Casco. Loving wishes in lieu of flowers, please. Local arrangements are by Crosby & Neal, Newport.