Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

It didn't sum up even a fraction of his contributions to golf in Arkansas, but Charles E. "Monk" Wade's name was placed upon one of the most popular summer events in the Arkansas State Golf Association calendar: the annual Father-Son Tournament.

Monk Wade died Sunday at age 90, coincidentally just a day before the start of 2010 Father-Son event.

Wade in banking for 46 years, retiring in 1986 as senior vice president for what was then known as Worthen National Bank. But the personable Wade had friends galore outside of business, as well, through his association with golf. He became the executive director of the ASGA in 1975, overseeing its many tournaments and in 1979 creating the Father-Son tourney that eventually bore his name, thanks to the ASGA board's 2001 decision.

He led the ASGA for 15 years, growing it from a one-man operation out of his son's former bedroom into one of the nation's leading state golf organizations with thousands of members.

Wade spoke of his battle with prostate cancer, and the fight against prostate cancer became a focal point around the Father-Son tournament with the annual fund-raising event, "Boys and Their Toys."

Wade was inducted into the state Golf Hall of Fame in 1996. A classroom at the Jack Stephens Golf Academy/First Tee of Central Arkansas was named in his honor in 2005.Wade was a dedicated promoter of junior golf and scholarship among the ASGA's junior golfers.

His love of golf started early, and he was the captain of his Little Rock High (now Central) golf team in 1938.

I first encountered the squatty-built gregarious Wade outside a scorer's tent at Pine Bluff Country Club in 1976, when one of the ASGA men's championships was being contested there. First impressions of Monk Wade were typicall great impressions of people, and everybody I knew looked forward to seeing him around the tournaments again the next time in town.

For the reporter and photographer of a small daily having to chase after the lead groups in a stroke play event, Wade didn't hesitate to commandeer one of the club's cart's and send them in the right direction. After a long day in heat not unlike what we're experiencing these days, Wade insisted on said reporter(s) partaking of their beverage of choice at the club bar, complements of the ASGA (most likely complements of Monk himself).

It's said his grandfather dubbed him "that little monkey" when he was a child climbing trees all the time. "Monk" was moniker that lasted a lifetime.

What a great lifetime it was, and how fortunate we were to come across Monk Wade.

He's survived by a son, Steve, president of Simmons First National Bank, his daughter-in-law Ginger, and two grandchildren. The family will receive visitors from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, at Roller-Chenal Funeral Home on Chenal Parkway. The burial service will be private, but a public service in celebration of Monk's life will be held at First Baptist Church, Pleasant Valley and Rodney Parham Road, on Thursday, June 24, starting at 10 a.m.