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Wade “Pop” Lindsey was born in Elmore Alabama. His childhood was spent on a farm where life was not always easy. At the age of 14 Wade had to drop out of school to help on the family farm to make ends meet. He later returned to school and finally graduated high school at the age of 21. After high school Wade followed his older brother Jim to Spartanburg, SC to attend Technical Industrial Institute (TII), which is now known as Spartanburg Methodist College. While attending The Technical Industrial Institute he worked at night in a local mill and went to school during the day. As you can imagine, this made for a long and tiring routine, but Wade Lindsey was never short on drive and ambition. After graduating TII in 1937 Wade worked at a number of jobs in Spartanburg including a pawn shop, a shoe store and at Draper Corporation. After marrying Betty Kiser from Rutherfordton, NC they started a family and Wade was called to duty in the Navy in 1943. While in the Navy, he was stationed in San Diego, California where he served as an athletic instructor on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. After returning to Spartanburg following his tour of duty in the Navy, Wade and Betty purchased a small grocery store called Mrs. Mays Grocery. This store was eventually renamed Wade’s Bar-B-Que (see our History page on this web site). Wade and Betty Lindsey had three children Thomas Milton Lindsey, Betty Carole Lindsey and Wade Hampton Lindsey Jr. Wade Lindsey was a down to earth and fun loving person who never lost his love of Alabama. When Wade was not working he enjoyed playing golf and flying. Something you may not know about Wade Lindsey is that he was one of the original founders of The Peach Valley Golf Course on highway 221 in Spartanburg. Flying was probably his number one passion and he owned several small planes during his life. There is a great story about the time he was flying to Auburn Alabama to visit his son Tommy. On the way there he was forced to land his Cessna on a small country road in Georgia. The story goes that after landing his plane he taxied his plane into the front yard of a local house. He calmly knocked on the door and when a lady answered the door he asked if he could use the phone to call for gas. You can imagine the look on the lady’s face when she saw the airplane sitting in her front yard. After the plane was refueled the road was blocked off by the highway patrol and Wade continued on to Auburn. He had no fear of flying and flew for many years after this happened. Wade Lindsey died July 18, 1997. |
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Wade
'Pop' Lindsey