Wade Fletcher BBA '78

Wade Fletcher named UW-Whitewater 2021 Outstanding Alumnus for Community/Regional Service

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is proud to announce that Wade James Fletcher, who earned a bachelor's degree in business in 1978, has been selected as the university's Outstanding Alumnus for Community/Regional Service for 2021. Fletcher is a retired corporate executive and entrepreneur.

The award recognizes Fletcher’s service to others, as evidenced by numerous local, regional and statewide awards citing his outstanding commitment to the community of Beaver Dam, focusing on the health issues and the welfare of youth and people with disabilities.

When Fletcher was a high school student looking at colleges, former Warhawk wrestling coach Willie Myers could be credited with bringing him to UW-Whitewater. Fletcher, a wrestler at Beaver Dam High School, had just come to tour campus.

"I left there signed up for school because of Willie Myers,” said Fletcher. Once the business student was on campus, Myers caused Fletcher to think deeply about how he led his life, on campus and off.

Coach Myers and the people he put around us were the glue that held everything together — they weren’t going to let you fail. If you didn’t think you could go on, they wouldn’t let you give up. And we are all great friends today.”

Coach Meyers brought together a bunch of guys who he felt would fit together, not necessarily the state champions. He wanted people who would create the family environment that would keep things together. He had a strong value system, along with a strong faith, and he made it comfortable for anyone who wanted to take that step with him.”

At the time Fletcher was on campus, a growing awareness of the needs of students with disabilities was led by faculty and staff like Myers.

"At UW-Whitewater, Willie was also the director of facilities management. In winter, we needed to keep the handicapped access clear of snow and ice. He said, ‘Wrestlers: here’s your work-study.’”

Fletcher also kept up his lifelong connection with Coach Myers, who passed away in January 2021.

"Willie Myers did his doctorate thesis on accessibility for students with disabilities. Later on, after retiring, illness limited his mobility. I would visit at the time and he’d say, ‘Who’d have thought that I’d be living my dissertation?’”

When he graduated with a BBA in 1978, the plan had been to eventually step into the family’s Shell Oil business back home in Beaver Dam. Instead, he worked at Shell Oil in Chicago’s south district, which led to a corporate and entrepreneurial career that included Sajac Co. (now Vintage Parts), ER Wagner Manufacturing Company, co-owning a Harley-Davidson franchise, and co-owning Steelhorse Motorsports and Hogz & Honeez Bar & Grill. He received the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award from UW-Whitewater in 1988.

Despite a busy career, he never forgot the lessons he learned from Myers, or from his own family — who also practiced quietly giving back to the community including distributing turkeys at Thanksgiving to families in need, a task that Fletcher helped with as a child.

“You need to show up in life: giving back and helping is the right thing.”

And give back he has. His resume includes decades on the boards of the Beaver Dam Community Hospital, the Hospital Foundation, the Beaver Dam YMCA, the Nation of Patriots, Green Valley Enterprises, and the UW-Whitewater Foundation.

“You can get pulled in different directions,” he said. “But I always looked at health issues and the betterment of youth. The most rewarding was seeing individuals who benefit from my contributions. The improved facilities, the programming, the services outside the hospital like hospice and homecare.”

He was named to the Warhawk Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994. And, with the financial support of his lifelong friend and fellow UW-Whitewater wrestler Ray Jacobsen, Fletcher led the effort to establish the Myers Family Wrestling Gymnasium, which was built, furnished and dedicated to Coach Willie Myers in 2005.

Most recently, he was named the Beaver Dam Lions Club Citizen of the Year in May 2020.

In addition to Myers, Fletcher credits his grass-roots upbringing and the value of giving back that his parents instilled in him and his brother and sister.

“At Thanksgiving, my dad would know which of our home heating customers were having difficulties paying the bills, who were in a tough spot. One of the three of us kids would be in the car with him, and our job would be to drop off a turkey to a few different places. But he didn’t want people to know. He grew up with nothing, and he just wanted to help those who had nothing to not feel that way.”

He also credits his many business mentors — people who are his good friends today, and who all do these kinds of things in their communities.

“Professionally, I was very fortunate to land with eagles. Having good people around you makes all the difference, and I was fortunate there. I had people who were excellent mentors, who were good friends, who mentored me and gave me the opportunity to learn. They were all very giving of their time, their finances, and their wisdom.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Fletcher said of his service. “And it hopefully sets an example for others.”

A first-generation college student, Fletcher is proud to see his son, James, follow in his footsteps as a Warhawk, also studying business and earning a spot on the Dean’s List.

“UW-Whitewater is small enough for that personal touch, that ability to have access to professors for extra work and extra help. The ability to create relationships.”

As a student-athlete, Fletcher benefited from that personal touch, especially when he needed to miss a test or presentation because he was competing out of town or out of state.

“The teachers would reschedule or allow us to take the test at a different time,” he said. “They understood and they cared.”