Long time HET Member Bill Bade

dave s

I was saddened to receive an email telling me that Bill Bade died yesterday at age of 97 years 11 months. :mad: I will never forget the time I was driving our 1941 C8 70 mph on way back from Doc's and he flew by us in his 1951 Hornet convertible like I was standing still. He was still driving his 1954 Hornet last year @ 96! His complete obituary can be viewed and memorial tributes left by visiting funeral home website at [http://www.watermanfuneralhome.com/ecom/sp/;cat=obituaries;obit=1164567791

Jon B

Wow, he was a giant in Club history. So sorry to hear this. As many will know, Bill as a young man was hired by the local Hudson dealer to Detroit, to the christening ceremony of the new 1932 Terraplane, where Amelia Earhart broke a bottle of aviation fuel over the hood ornament of a new Terraplane. He drove one of the new cars back home for the dealer, in the famous "Driveaway".



He said that when he arrived at the festivities he saw all the Terraplanes ready to be driven away, so he simply tossed his suitcase into one of them, intending to stake out that car as his 'own'. When he returned to the parking lot later he suddenly realized that every one of those Terraplanes was identical! It took him a good deal of time to locate his suitcase.



Bill was a fixture at Hudson meets for decades, and he never seemed to age much (though the rest of us did). It was reassuring to see Bill at a meet; it validated the meet as a real Hudson meet, when he was there!

Unknown

Bill Was An Icon In The Club, Bought Many Parts From Him Over The Years. Amazing How He Drove A Terraplane From Detroit In 1932 And I Wasnt Born Until 4 Years Later And I Am An Old Man Now Be 71 In April. I Know He Will Have A Smooth Highway To Travel Up There, Bill A.

Unknown

What an amazing man. My condolences to his family and all who knew him.