Photograph of Robert McDade and Gary McDade
Robert Edd McDade
April 19,1926 - April 28, 2013

This website is dedicated to the memory of my Dad, known to most as Buddy McDade.

He was loved and respected by all who knew him. For a number of solid reasons, the moniker with which his generation of Americans has been dubbed seems eminently fitting: “The Greatest Generation.”

Photograph of Robert McDade

All that knew him—coming from many different walks of life—saw a man that put God first, loved the Bible, read it, studied it, and lived it. He was a member of the West Fourth Street Church Of Christ in Fordyce, Arkansas. He taught Sunday school, lead the singing, and filled in preaching when called upon. Always among the first to arrive at the meeting house, he would stand at the door and announce, “They’re coming in here like a herd of terrapins!”

Photograph of Robert McDade

Dad was a Navy Veteran of World War II. As he grew older he spoke more and more about his experiences in the Pacific Theater. He served onboard the USS Farragut, hull number DD 348, beginning in 1943 and was one of the last men to leave the ship when it was decommissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 23 October 1945.

Movie: Signing Up For Service.

Movie: Assigned to the USS Faragut.

Photograph of Robert McDade

Dad dropped out of school in the 3rd grade to help provide a living for his family. I was in Junior High School when he attended night classes and got his GED. He then attended the William R. Moore Technical School at night and got his First Class Steam Engineer’s License after which he worked as an engineer at the Veteran's Hospital in Memphis.

Dad lived most of his adult life in Memphis, Tennessee, but after he retired he moved back home to Fordyce, Arkansas. He truely loved that little town, and the people there loved him. He was known by everyone as "Uncle Buddy." All the relatives, friends, black and white called him "Uncle Buddy." It was comforting to us that he was able to live out his declining years there and remain independent until his Lord "took him home."

Photograph of Robert McDade

MCDADE FAMILY TREE

  • 1Charles Alexander McDade b. UNKNOWN
  • +Edna Adelina Fields b. UNKNOWN
    • 2John McDade b. 1813 d. 1865
    • +Nancy Hickman b. 1814 d. 1895 M. 1835 in Macon Co., AL
      • 3Charles Alexander McDade b. 1842 Mt. Meigs, AL d. 1916 Warren, AR
      • +Mary E. Outlaw b. 1846 AL d. 1927 Fordyce, AR
        • 4Edd McDade b. 1896 d. 1964
        • +Vera Mae Pierce b. 1905 d. 1971
          • 5Lena Mae McDade Granderson b. 1921 d. 2010
          • 5Verda Sue McDade Berg b. 1923 d. 2002
          • 5Mary Ella McDade Granderson b. 1924 d. 2012
          • 5Robert Edd McDade (Buddy) b. 1926 d. 2013
          • +Ruth Irene Devers b. 1919 d. 2000
            • 6Marilyn Joyce McDade b. 1949
            • 6Robert Gary McDade 1951
            • +Sheila Lynn Walker b. 1951
            • 6Ronald Darrell McDade b. 1956 d. 1998
          • 5Mamie Ruth McDade Todd b. 1928
          • 5Rachel E. McDade Davenport b. 1930
          • 5Ora Lee McDade McBride b. 1932
          • 5James Edward Lamar McDade b. 1936
          • 5Charles F. McDade b. 1938