Wade Hampton Hillyer

Wade Hampton Hillyer, 32, born September 30, 1984, in Clearfield, Utah, passed peacefully from this life to the next on September 27, 2017, at his home in Mascoutah, Illinois, of pneumonia and other complications from Type I diabetes and Castleman’s disease, just three days before his 33rd birthday.

Wade leaves behind his heartbroken parents, Bart and Georgia Hillyer of Mascoutah, to cherish his memory.  Wade was the best of sons, sweet and cheerful and mischievous and exuberant, throughout his life, even when cascading health problems brought constant pain and limited mobility.  Wade never spoke due to severe autism, but was never at a loss to communicate his feelings and desires to those around him, often vigorously.  Wade did everything full-tilt, with a song in his heart.

Wade loved carnival rides and french fries and loud toys and ice cream and running, wildly, from place to place with his golden hair streaming in the breeze.  But most of all he loved the water, and was a fearless, skillful, joyful self-taught swimmer.

Wade’s family is so grateful to Wade’s many loving caregivers and friends throughout his life, from Utah to Germany to Colorado to North Carolina to Illinois.  These generous young men and women saw through Wade’s many challenges to see the fun-loving scamp that he was, always.  In his final years these were mostly Trinity Services staff members, whose love for Wade and his friends keeps them doing amazing things in difficult circumstances.

Extra special thanks go to Ben Wallace of Fairview Heights, the brother that Wade never had, who understood Wade in a way that no one else did, and entered his world—Wade’s World—with affection and enthusiasm.

Memorials may be made to Alfa Foundation, 973 N. 6th Street, Mascoutah IL 62258, an all-volunteer nonprofit that strives to provide full and abundant lives for adults with developmental disabilities in Southwest Illinois.

Visitation: Visitation will be from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, September 29, 2017 at Holy Childhood Catholic Church in Mascoutah, IL.

Funeral: A funeral mass will be held Friday, September 29, 2017 at Holy Childhood Catholic Church with Father Paul Wienhoff officiating. Burial will follow in Holy Childhood Catholic Cemetery. There will be a very informal farewell for all of Wade’s friends at Trinity Gardens and Farmstead, 11858 Zimmermann Road, just east of Mascoutah, IL at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 3, 2017.