Richard Esh Cade Jr. was the only child of Richard Cade, a log scaler, and Madeline L. Petersen Cade, a homemaker and later a medical secretary.
The son was born April 17, 1924. He is shown in the 1941 Bellingham (Washington) High School yearbook as a member of the glee club. He also belonged to DeMolay, a fraternal organization for young men that is part of the Masons. Had he stayed in school, he would have graduated in 1943.
Instead, Mr. Cade enlisted in the Navy on April 19, 1941. He was a seaman second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed that Dec. 7 in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.