“Anything is possible.” That is what Raford Cade believed about life. Always a person with a new business idea, he was a risk taker and entrepreneur in the truest sense who possessed the drive and persistence to turn those ideas into success. Raford was a person who believed he could achieve whatever he set out to do.
Raford was born on August 29, 1926 at the family home in the small town of Odell, Texas. His parents were James Eugene and Ollie Evelyn Cade. At a relatively young age, the family moved to Wellington, Kansas where Raford was raised along with his older sister, Juana Jean, his younger sister, Jimmie Lee, and his younger brother, Michael Allen. Theirs was a modest household, didn’t have a whole lot of material things, but there was always a lot of love and the family was extremely close. It seems sometime during these early years that Raford made a commitment to himself that he was going to be successful at whatever vocation he pursued and provide a better life for his family and that focus seemed to live on as he got older.
As a young boy, Raford was involved in the Boy Scouts and later he played football through high school where he graduated from Wellington High in 1944. Three days after graduation, Raford and some of his close friends enlisted in the military. World War II was still being fought and he joined the US Naval Air Corp until the war ended two years later.
Always a people person, he was most at home around his close circle of friends and members of his family. While growing up, some of his best friends were John Baucom, Jim Quillen, Frank Holefelder and Charles O’Neil all of Wellington. Later in life, he became close friends with many others, particularly Giacomo Busi of Sedrina, Italy, Ferruccio Voltini of Cremona, Italy, Wayne Barrack of Springdale, Arkansas, and Don Jensen of Wytheville, Virginia.
After being discharged from the Navy and returning to Kansas, Raford attended the University of Kansas and Kansas State University. During his college years, he met a girl from his hometown and after a short 6-month courtship, he proposed and later married Dorothy May Davis on October 8, 1949 at Sunnyside Baptist Church in Wichita, Kansas. They welcomed their first child, James Roger Cade, on November 12, 1953. Following Raford’s ambitious instinct, the young family moved to Dallas, Texas in the spring of 1955 and on July 27, 1955, Julie Suzanne Cade was born followed by Jeffrey Charles Cade some two years later. Raford excelled in sales for Dallas Wholesale Builders Supply and in 1963, decided to step out on his own and started Cade Pioneer Supply in Richardson, Texas, a wholesaler of specialty building materials for the next 15 years. After selling his company to Slaughter Brothers, being a true entrepreneur, Raford started several other businesses, the final one being Moulding Associates, Inc. where, together with his sons and daughter and an excellent team of coworkers, they grew that company for the next 28 years before selling it to Pella Window and Door in Pella, Iowa in March, 2007 at which time he retired.
Having the opportunity to visit and explore a new place always intrigued Raford. Along with Dorothy, he traveled extensively. Favorite vacations included traveling all over Europe, especially Italy. Also, many trips to SE Asia, South America and other destinations.
Upon his retirement in 2007, his new life involved relocating to Highland Springs Senior Living community. In retirement, he found new pleasure in playing cards, spending time with friends, traveling and enjoying the family lake house at Lake Cypress Springs. Even in retirement, Raford continued to stay in touch with his old friends while making plenty of new acquaintances. He was active in the Highland Springs community and felt fulfilled.
Raford passed away from COVID 19 on November 23, 2020 while living at The Auberge Memory Care facility in Plano, Texas. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Dorothy Cade and his children James Roger and wife Camilla, Julie Holwerda and husband George, son Jeffrey Cade and wife Lisa as well as 10 grand children and 3 great grandchildren. Because of the COVID pandemic, services will be held at a later date. Raford will be laid to rest at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park.
The Cade family would like to acknowledge the wonderful care that Raford received the last several months at The Auberge. We appreciate and are grateful for the treatment given to him by his many caregivers during this difficult period.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.teddickeywestfuneral.com for the Cade famiwww.mem.com/members
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