TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Sep 8, 2023

Munford native Frankie Ellis Wade passed away Sept. 7. Born Feb. 13, 1943, she attended the University of Tennessee Knoxville and majored in home economics. After having two children as an army wife, Wade returned to Knoxville to raise her family and later attended law school at UT Knoxville. She began her career in law in 1978 as the only female lawyer at Ambrose, Wilson and Grimm in Knoxville. Wade soon started her own firm and became a family law attorney, serving as an active member of both the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility and the Tennessee Bar Association. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Frankie Ellis Wade Scholarship Endowment at the University of Tennessee. This scholarship provides an opportunity for a former Lady Vol student-athlete to pursue a Law Degree at the University of Tennessee. Please make checks payable to the University of Tennessee Foundation and send to University of Tennessee, Attn: Andrea Piercy, 635 Andy Holt Tower, Knoxville, TN 37996. A Celebration of Life Service will be held Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. CDT at Idlewild Church, 1750 Union Ave. Memphis, with a reception to follow. Please wear your UT orange!

Drawing by John Fowler, an attorney at Ambrose, Wilson and Grimm. Wade's daughter Holly says that "he did these drawings as birthday presents for people at the firm. She had that framed on her wall in her office."