News

Originally Posted on https://www.jamesmaneval.com/

Wade Howard Wright, age 79, died peacefully on March 25, 2026 at Nottingham Village Retirement Center in Northumberland, PA, where he had been a resident since July 2025 and under the care of Compassus Hospice since November, supported by loving family and friends.

Wade was born on November 23,1946 in Washington, DC to Lt. Col. Ernest C. Wright of Ames, IA and Mary Ruth (Allen) Wright of Hamburg, AR. As his father was a career officer in the US Army Chemical Corps, his youth was spent in England, Germany, Alabama, Texas, and Maryland.

He graduated from Bel Air High School in 1965, third in his class and a celebrated student athlete, and from Johns Hopkins University in 1969 with a B.S. in Behavioral & Sociological Sciences. Wade was a conscientious objector (CO) during the Vietnam War. For his civilian alternative service, he worked at Ecumenical Campus Ministry in Baltimore, which served several colleges. He became involved with the Mid-Atlantic Training Committee (MATC), the Movement for a New Society (MNS), and nonviolent anti-war direct action.

Wade settled in Baltimore with his partner Carol FitzGerald in 1974, restoring a 19th century rowhouse near Patterson Park. Wade and Carol produced and sold wooden toys as the Marvelous Toy Works, a home business, in their storefront shop and at arts & crafts fairs. They homeschooled their children and were involved in urban gardening and beekeeping. In 1991, they purchased a small farm near Stillwater, PA, continuing the toy business by mail order and developing a market garden.

Wade was an early member of the PA Association of Sustainable Agriculture and became certified as a trainer of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (himself an INFP). He became at this time a Quaker (Religious Society of Friends), with membership at Millville Friends Meeting. He worked for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for 15 years as Regional Field Secretary for the Upper Susquehanna Quarter, supporting the Quaker meetings of that region. He was a leader in developing PYM’s Spiritual Formation program, which has had hundreds of participants over 25 years and continues as one of his legacies. He received training at Eastern Mennonite University’s Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) program. This experience and others inspired him to pursue Clinical Pastoral Education – hospital chaplain training – through programs at Geisinger and Hershey Medical Centers. He served as a chaplain at three different hospitals. He wrote, “That work was the most effective spiritual training I ever received: how to be a listening presence, how to trust that the Divine will always be there to support, uphold, and care for you if you wait expectantly with confidence and faith.”

Since 2014, he resided in Red Lion, PA with Jane Cadwallader. They were married in 2022 at Lancaster Friends Meeting, and were actively involved in the Quaker community and Spiritual Formation program.

Wade loved music and played the banjo; with Pete Seeger as his model, he loved to lead group singing. He was a student of blues piano, swing dancing, and tap dancing. He loved nature — birdwatching, stargazing, and his pet Basset hounds — and his gardens were his pride and joy. He was interested in family genealogy and kept a personal journal, as have many Quakers before him. He touched many lives with his humor and optimism.

He is survived by wife Jane Cadwallader of Red Lion, PA; former partner Carol FitzGerald of Stillwater, PA; son Jesse Wright-FitzGerald & wife Wendi Svoboda of North Hills, CA; daughter Dillon Naylor & husband Justin of Stillwater, PA; daughter Adrian Wright-FitzGerald of Pittsburgh, PA; grandsons Peter Naylor, James Naylor, Thomas Naylor, & Benjamin Wright-FitzGerald; brothers Ernest Wright & wife Claire of Elkader, IA, Allen Wright & wife Betsy Wieseman of Sarasota, FL; cousins Ginger Allen of Houston, TX and Julie Grace of Dallas, TX; niece Enid Boeding & husband Ron of St. Paul, MN; great-nephews Andrew Boeding & Ellis Boeding; and feline companion Wally Boss.

Internment at the Millville Friends Meeting New Cemetery was private.

A Celebration of Life will be on Saturday, July 11, 2026 at Millville Friends Meeting. The family will receive friends at 1 pm, with a memorial service at 2 pm. Arrangements are being handled by Maneval Allen Redmond Funeral Home of Williamsport.

There will also be a Memorial Worship Service held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, June 27, 2026 at the Lancaster Friends Meeting, 110 Tulane Terrace, Lancaster, PA 17603.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in Wade’s memory can be made to Millville Friends Meeting, 351 E Main St. Millville, PA 17846; Lancaster Friends Meeting, 110 Tulane Terrace, Lancaster, PA 17603; or PA Association of Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), 1631 N. Front St, Harrisburg, PA 17102.