In Memory of Wade Fails 

Wade Fails was born in Butler, Alabama, in 1928 to Annie Laura and George Washington Fails.  He grew up in Alabama and was a song leader for his 4H group. He joined the US Navy when he was 17 years old, before starting his junior year in high school. In 1944 he served on the USS Pennsylvania in the Pacific. He said that when the ship anchored in Hawaii, the smell of pineapple filled the air. There were trash cans filled with pineapple juice and the sailors could have as much as they wanted. Johnny Carson and Jimmy Dean also served on this ship. After World War II ended, he returned to Alabama to finish school, and then joined the Army Air Corps, which became the US Air Force. Wade also served in Munich, Germany, in 1948, helping with reconstruction after the war. He later was a cartographer and worked analyzing aerial photographs taken by U2 planes. Most notably, he identified missiles in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  

Wade met Mariel Frances Smith in 1952 in Huntington, West Virginia, when he attended an anniversary party for her parents with friends from his church in Washington, D.C. They were married a year later after Mariel finished her freshman year of college at Bridgewater College in Virginia. The two then lived in St. Louis and Omaha before moving to London, England. Their daughter Debi was born in England in 1958 and the family moved back to the US to Washington, D.C., where Wade was stationed at Bolling Air Force Base. Wade and Mariel attended Congress Heights Baptist Church there and had another daughter, Kari. In 1962, Wade and Mariel bought a house in Temple Hills and joined Broadview Baptist Church.

Wade received orders to Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1970 and the family lived there for 5 1/2 years, renting their home in Temple Hills during that time. In 1976, Wade retired as a Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force after 31 years of service. He had been first sergeant of the 497th Reconnaissance Technical Group at the time. Wade and Mariel loved traveling around Europe together. Wade made friends with his German Army counterparts, receiving awards and recognition from them. As a skilled carpenter, Wade built offices at his workplace and map racks for generals in his off-time in the evenings. He often invited young airmen to their home for dinner. 

After Wade retired from the Air Force, the family returned to Temple Hills where the family was active at Broadview Baptist Church. Wade was a man of faith and an ordained deacon, who enjoyed ushering and greeting people at church and the chapel in Germany. He participated in Bible study, business meetings, taught Sunday School and was always ready to help others.  He encouraged his children to “always do more than your share,” which was the way he lived his life. 

Wade is survived by his children: Debra (David) Walton, Karissa (Chip) Rumsey, and his grandchildren: Chris (Allison) Walton, Stephen Walton, Tyler (Nicole) Walton, Alissa Rumsey, and Robin Mariel Rumsey.

In Memory of Mariel Smith Fails 

Mariel Smith Fails passed away on December 5, 2020, at 85. She was born in Kenova, West Virginia, on March 1, 1935. She attended the same high school where her mother was an English teacher, and her father was the school principal. Mariel graduated as the valedictorian of her class. She attended Bridgewater College for one year and married Wade Fails on October 24, 1953. When Mariel and Wade were living in England, she worked as the Base Commander’s secretary and drove a red Karmann Ghia Convertible.

 Mariel and Wade traveled back to “the States” in 1958 with their new baby, Debra Frances. They lived in Congress Heights where they attended church, and in 1961, they had their second child, Karissa Anne. Mariel played the piano for the Primary Department. They moved to Henderson Road in 1962 and attended Broadview Baptist Church where Mariel was a Sunday School Teacher and choir member. Their next-door neighbors were Jack and Nell O’Rear. In 1970 Mariel and Wade went to Wiesbaden, Germany. Mariel taught Sunday School, volunteered as a Lovely Lady, which was a group that washed and styled patient’s hair, was a choir member, and helped lead the children’s choir. Mariel and Wade often cooked meals at the squadron cookouts and at special dinners at the base church. They traveled extensively around Europe until 1976, when they returned stateside. 

Mariel became hospitality chairwoman of Broadview and coordinated Wednesday Night Dinners for quite a few years. She taught Sunday School in the Primary Department, was again a member of the choir, and babysat the pastor’s children and later her grandchildren. Most important at Broadview, she became the first female deacon. When Broadview was sold, Mariel and Wade became members of First Baptist Church of Camp Springs. Once again Mariel served as she always did.

Mariel was a creative person and enjoyed sewing, German Tole painting, and most of all, cooking.  She had an exceptional sense of interior design and made her home a beautiful, warm, welcoming place. She often entertained friends and family, serving some of her famous dishes. She also enjoyed playing the piano, reading, and watching old, classic movies. She loved miniature objects, such as dollhouse furniture and accessories. She liked wind-up toys and really, all toys. Children were her specialty, and she was always prepared with a new toy or two for young visitors. Mariel supported Wade in his quest to grow the biggest tomato (bigger than Jack’s). She liked her half-runner green beans, and she knew how to cook them right! Yum.

 She was a devoted friend and grandmother, always writing to friends and family members and checking on their lives. She sent cookies to them while they were in college and always had a birthday card for them on or before their birthday. She was a determined user of technology, even purchasing a “Computer for Dummies” book. Mariel loved her iPad and often kept in touch with her friends by using it.  

Mariel was a devoted Christian wife and mother who studied her Bible daily and attended church regularly, supporting it in many ways over the span of her life. Her friends, church family, and natural family and extended family were near and dear to her heart. 

Mariel is survived by her children: Debra (Dave) Walton, Karissa (Chip) Rumsey; grandchildren:  Christopher (Allison) Walton, Stephen Walton, Tyler (Nicole) Walton, Alissa Rumsey, and Robin Mariel Rumsey.