Adams, Gary Lee (1951-1972)

ADAMS, DAEHN, ELLIOTT

Posted By: Debbie Greenfield (email)
Date: 6/28/2016 at 18:27:36

Daily Freeman Journal, Thursday, July 20, 1972

Local man dies of injuries suffered in mishap at airport

Gary Lee Adams, 20, of Webster City died yesterday afternoon at Mercy hospital in Des Moines of extensive head injuries received when he fell 23 feet onto a slab of concrete at the Webster City Municipal airport.

Adams was taken to the Hamilton County Public hospital at 10:50 yesterday morning by the Webster City fire department rescue squad where he was admitted for emergency treatment.

He was later transferred to Mercy hospital in Des Moines where he died at 2 p.m. while undergoing emergency surgery. Doctors said he never regained consciousness.

The accident occurred when Adams, an employee of the Huisinga and Peterson Construction Co., was insulating the roof of a new hangar under construction at the local airport. A spokesman for the construction firm said Adams was climbing on the steel roof when he slipped and fell to the cement floor of the hangar 23 feet below.

Adams had worked for the Huisinga and Peterson firm during his senior year at Webster City high school and began working for the firm again last April following his discharge from the Navy.

Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Trinity Lutheran church with the Rev. R.M. Roden officiating. Burial will be at Graceland cemetery where a flag folding ceremony will be conducted at graveside.

The body will lie in state at the Foster Funeral home until 10 a.m. Saturday when it will be taken to the church.

Gary Lee Adams, son of Donald R. and Evelyn Daehn Adams, was born Oct. 12, 1951, at Iowa City. He began his elementary education at Fort Dodge. The family moved to Texas in 1960, returning to Webster City in 1962. He graduated from Webster City high school in 1970.

He enlisted in the Navy in April of 1971, receiving a discharge in April of 1972.

He is survived by his mother; two sisters and one brother, Mrs. Harold (Judy) Elliott, Penny Adams, and Antone Adams, all of Webster City; his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Antone Adams, Motley, Minn.; and a grandfather, W.J. Daehn, Aransas Pass, Tex. He was preceded in death by his father and one sister.

He was a member of the Trinity Lutheran church and the Disabled American Veterans.