Wadell Tate: With him died an era

Cool enough!  (Phoro by Hans Olav Lien)

He was an old-school gentleman living in a new-school ghetto.  A World War II veteran, Wardell Tate had given as much to his community as to his country.

The community, however, had seen better days.  Much better days.  During the many years that Tate had lived there, it became infested with drugs and crime.

Two such criminals broke into Tate’s home and ransacked it. They left him “bloodied and in his pajamas, partially covered with blankets...” and dead.   

With him went a bygone era.  Tate was delightfully traditional. While the sun was out, electric lights remained off.  There were no credit cards, or even checking accounts.  Air conditioning, cellphones and cable TVs were shunned.

So what did Tate do all day?  He did what folks used to do: chat up neighbors on porches, go for long walks, dress up and head downtown, mentor some local kids.

After Tate’s murder, a nine-year-old boy came up to his daughter and said, “He was a nice man.  He shouldn’t have died.”  Even at 97, Tate had so much love left to give.

Resources

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/a-97-year-old-vet-is-murdered-in-his-pajamas-as-baltimore-struggles-to-contain-the-killings/ar-AApJES1?li=BBnb7Kz&item=personalization_enabled%3afalse&OCID=ansmsnnews11 

Copyright August 12, 2017 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved