Friends, family and business associates continue to mourn the loss of Coal Grove businessman Richard L. Wade of Willow Wood who died Friday after apparently suffering a heart attack on his drive back to his store, Wade's Work

& Western Wear, located at 203 Marion Pike.

The family is still coming to terms with the sudden death of the 53-year-old man whom they thought to be in good health.

"He had no health problems at all that we knew about," his daughter Amanda Jeffries said. "I think he would have told me."

"We are really in shock. We love him very much and we will miss him."

Wade was driving his 1996 Pontiac Bonneville westbound on State Route 141 at approximately 11:45 a.m. Friday when his vehicle crashed into a ditch, said Trooper Chuck Knapp of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Ironton Post.

Knapp said a witness reported that she saw Wade slump over the wheel before he drove off the left side of the road near the five-mile marker and the intersection with County Road 5. There were no skid marks or signs that he applied his brakes.

The vehicle was not severely damaged and Wade did not appear to suffer any injuries from the crash, although he was not wearing a seat belt when the Patrol arrived on the scene, Knapp said.

Wade was pronounced dead upon arrival at King's Daughters Medical Center and the cause was determined as a heart attack by the Boyd County, Ky. coroner, Knapp said.

Knapp said he found no evidence of foul play or criminal activity, but did find aspirin laying loose in the seat as if Wade was suffering from chest pains.

Chuck Wheeler, of CJT's Monogramming, and his family have leased the store below Wade's for the past year. Wheeler said they could not ask for a better landlord.

"He was a fine gentleman. There were very few people on this world that could walk in his shoes," he said. "I could not say enough about him."

The Wade's started their family business in 1981 along State Route 141. In 1991 the business moved to Coal Grove and built a reputation in the community of offering Carharrt clothing and a wide-selection of boots.

The store will reopen after the funeral and will continue in Richard's memory

without any foreseeable changes, Jeffries said.