Catawba Indian potter Florence Wade leaves legacy of keeping tradition alive

The oldest member and matriarch of the Catawba Indian Nation, Florence Wade, died April 12 at the age of 94.

“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing, and a lot of people have been coming by with good will wishes,” said Wade’s daughter, Frieda Shrake, 67, of Rock Hill. “It’s been very heartwarming.”

Wade’s work on the children’s program of the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project is credited with ensuring the Catawba heritage and its tradition of pottery will continue for future generations.

“We’ve lost a lot of elders through the years, and this is a huge blow, to have lost a Catawba potter,” said Wenonah Haire, executive director of the Catawba Cultural Center. “She was just a dear sweet lady that absolutely glowed talking about her heritage.”

She said Wade especially enjoyed working with children.

“There was never a time she was asked to do a demonstration for a kids’ group or summer camp that she said no,” Haire said. “She absolutely loved children.”

Wade, born in Rock Hill, was the daughter of the late Chief David A. “Toad” Harris and the late Dorothy Price Harris. She was the youngest of 14 children. She also was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Rella Wade; a son, Connie Steve Wade; and a daughter, Joy Porter.

Wade retired from J.P. Stevens and again retired from Springs Industries. She is remembered as a Catawba master potter, and for traditional dancing. But Shrake talked about another “great community contribution” her mother and brother made on the reservation.

“In 1964, the tribe didn’t have telephones on the reservations,” she said. “My brother was a wanted football player here in the South, and before he signed for Clemson, my mom told Frank Howard she would not sign until she could get a phone for her home so she could talk to him. Within two weeks in spring of April 1964, the phone lines came to Catawba Nation. It was our first full-fledged 10-party line. We still laugh about that.”

Wade was the 2011 recipient of the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award, given by the South Carolina Arts Commission and the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum.

“She was a promoter of Catawba culture,” Shrake said. “Her mother was not Indian and married into the tribe. Her father was full-blooded. Mother was proud of both of her heritages.”

Wade remained active until about six years ago, because of health issues.

“When she was 89 years old, she was still out mowing the grass with a push mower,” Shrake said. “She was very industrious.”

Shrake said the words of Dr. Kenneth Patterson of Catawba Service Unit sum up her mother: “She was one of the great women on the earth today.”

“And I think that said a lot,” Shrake said.

Wade also is survived by granddaughter, whom she raised, Melissa Shrake Harris; and 21 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends 6-7:30pm Friday, April 14 at Greene Funeral Home Northwest Chapel, 2133 Ebenezer Road. The funeral is at 2 p.m. April 15 at the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS - Catawba Ward with burial in the church cemetery.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Catawba Indian potter Florence Wade leaves legacy of keeping tradition alive."