Williams made an impact as a long-time baseball coach at Lincoln High and at the American Legion level, mentoring numerous players to pro careers – most notably Johnny Pesky. That was after a memorable career as a football coach.
Williams played collegiate football at the University of Iowa, then moved to Miami, Florida in 1912. After contracting malaria, doctors urged him to move to a high, dry climate.
Williams began his journey into coaching as football coach at Baker High School in 1913. After military service, he moved to Portland to become a municipal bond investor but returned to coaching football at Commerce High in 1921. Despite coaching teams from a school of 200 students, his players competed equally with schools of 1,000 students. He also coached baseball at Commerce.
Williams became the football coach at Lincoln in 1930 and made headlines by having the city install lights at Multnomah Stadium, making Lincoln the first school West of the Mississippi River to play a night game. Williams taught history at the school. He added baseball to his coaching duties and won state championships in 1935, 1936 and again in 1956. Wade began coaching Legion ball in 1932 and enjoyed success at that level. He encouraged many of his athletes to focus on education which paid off with many becoming doctors, lawyers and educators.
The Little League baseball complex in Baker City is named in William’s honor and the Wade Williams Foundation has been established to raise money to continue to provide a quality facility for young players in Baker County.
