‘We are heartbroken’: Everett teacher died after driving off Tulalip road

Deborah Wade “saw the world and found beauty in people,” according to her obituary. She was 56.

Deborah Wade (photo provided by Everett Public Schools)

Deborah Wade (photo provided by Everett Public Schools)

TULALIP — The woman who plummeted to her death on the Tulalip Reservation last month has been identified as an Everett school counselor.

Around 12:15 p.m. March 17, Deborah Wade, 56, drove off the road in the 300 block of Priest Point Drive NW and into the shallow water of Possession Sound, said Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe.

Wade’s steep driveway was near where she drove off the road, O’Keefe said.

Wade died of multiple blunt-force injuries at the scene, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office determined.

Wade was born in the Bay Area, but moved to Whidbey Island with her family when she was 4, an obituary noted. She remained in the area all her life.

After graduating from Western Washington University, she joined the Peace Corps and taught in Kyrgyzstan, according to the obituary.

Upon her return to Washington, she started working in Everett schools in September 1998, district spokesperson Kathy Reeves said.

She taught at Eisenhower Middle School and Cascade High School and later became a counselor at Cascade, where she coordinated scholarships and worked as a union rep, according to the obituary.

In a statement Tuesday, the district called her “an amazing woman who touched many lives.”

“We are heartbroken at her sudden and untimely passing,” the statement reads. “She not only made an enormous difference in the lives of students she taught and counseled, but also in the lives of colleagues and friends.”

Her obituary noted her passion for volunteering and “promoting rights for women and girls.”

“She saw the world and found beauty in people,” the obituary stated. “She lived a full life, inspired others, and touched many lives. She will be greatly missed.”

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