Returning home to begin journey
Wade, who grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, graduated from Oregon State University in 2000 with a business degree. She played basketball in college and had an opportunity to play professionally overseas. She also considered remaining in Oregon to look for a job, but she ultimately decided to seek employment back home in Iowa so she could be nearby her close-knit family. Because I am so close to my family and I like to clearly torture myself with weather, I decided to come back home, she said.
Wade s family includes her mother, two brothers, two sisters and niece as well as a step-mother, two step-sisters and a step-brother. She was also extremely close with her father, Melvin Wade, who passed away in 2003.