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SAN FRANCISCO —
Ben Wade Oakes Dickinson died Nov. 16, 2011, in his home in San Francisco, at the age of 85.
Mr. Dickinson was born Oct. 29, 1926, in Hickory Township, now Hermitage, to Ben Wade Orr Dickinson Jr. and Gladys Grace Oakes Dickinson. Wade’s one sibling, Robert Wayne, was born eight years later.
Wade and Wayne were creative inventing partners for 50 years, starting between seven and 25 companies together, depending on how you count, and being granted more than 40 patents for a broad variety of technical inventions.
Of his 37, Wade’s first patent was granted in 1965 (US Patent 3,186,216) and his most recent in 2011 (US Patent 7,914,749).
Wade attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, then the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., starting at the end of World War II and graduating in 1949.
He studied as a nuclear physicist Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology, worked on the U.S. Air Force Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program and was a researcher at RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif. Wade was honorably discharged from the Air Force with the rank of captain.
He joined Bechtel Corp., during which time he was technical adviser on atomic energy to the U.S. Congress. Wade and Wayne went into business in San Francisco, founding W.W. Dickinson Corp. and other businesses, applying their knowledge of physics and engineering to solve problems as varied as cardiology, cattle reproduction and directional oil drilling.
Wade and Wayne and a team of other lecturers taught “Venture Design: The Start Up Company” (Engineering-110) for 19 years at the University of California at Berkeley. Wade was a Free and Accepted Mason of West Point, N.Y., lodge for more than 60 years. He was a founder and honorary board member of the California Medical Clinic for Psychotherapy.
A member for more than 50 years of the parish of St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church, San Francisco, he served in several church leadership roles including vestry and treasurer and was a dedicated crucifer and chalice bearer. Wade helped the parish to start community outreach ministries to support the hungry and homeless.
Wade married artist Eleanor Evelyn Vaughan Creekmore in 1952, with whom he had three children, Mark, Katy and Peter. His grandchildren are Jessica and her husband Matthew; and Paul, Corey and Forrest; Lynda and Daniel.
