GREENE — R. Wade Walker, 71, of Greene, died suddenly in an automobile accident Wednesday, Dec. 21.

He was the son of the late Ralph Andrews and Sara Ruth (Sally Wade) Walker. He was born Feb. 8, 1940, in Elizabeth, N.J. He was raised in the Harding Township area and attended Rutgers University upon graduation from Morristown High School in 1958. He served his country during the occupation in Seoul, Korea, rising to the rank of staff sergeant, prior to leaving the Army to become an employee of Chubb and Sons Insurance Co., Short Hills, N.J.

His real love was journalism and sports writing, later employed by the Morris County Daily Record, Star Ledger and the Hudson Dispatch. Walker was a beat writer, traveling with the NHL New York Rangers and the NASL New York Cosmos. Wade’s writing appeared in some of the official programs sold at Madison Square Garden.

He was also a jazz aficionado, a frequent contributor of articles to jazz publications as a free-lance writer. Walker moved to Maine in the mid 1990s, after nearly 30 years as a sports writer in New Jersey. He lived briefly in Portland, before buying his home in Greene. Wade loved nature, both domestic animals and wildlife, as well as a love of fishing and had been a ranger at Crescent Beach State Park when he lived in Portland, also keeping his hand in journalism. He was employed as a proofreader by Geiger Publishing in Lewiston and he officially retired from the written word. Not one to sit around in retirement, Wade enjoyed employment with Securitas Incorporated until his death.

He is survived by younger siblings, Glen and Nancy (Walker) Toof; and a niece; and three nephews.