John Michael Adams (2022)

ADAMS, BAYLES, BERTCH, DRAKE, JENSEN, LANNON, LUNSFORD, MYERS, THOMPSON, VILLHAUER, WALK, WELDON

Posted By: Shirley Keating
Date: 11/8/2023 at 18:02:56

Adams County Free Press
Corning, Iowa

John Michael Adams

John Michael Adams, 80, of Prescott, Iowa, passed away June 11, 2022, from complications of COPD at Lenox Care Center where he had been in residence since March.
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Mike was born fifth of 10 children in Iowa City to parents Virgil Orris Adams and Evelyn Idlewild Thompson Adams on June 19, 1941. He is preceded in death by parents, sister Carolyn Adams and brother Gene Adams. He is survived by wife of 17 years Linda Adams; his children, daughter, Audrey Drake, Woonsocket, R.I., son Michael J Myers (wife Shannon) of Creston, Iowa, daughter Karin Lunsford (husband Richard) of Diamond Bar, Calif.; his grandchildren, Mathew Drake (Audrey) Sarah Drake (Audrey) (husband Brian Walk), Jayden Myers, Justin Myers, Jordyn Myers (Michael and Shannon), Brad Lunsford, Jillian Lunsford, Simon Lunsford (Karin and Richard); and siblings Billy Dean Adams (wife Shirley) of Oakland, Iowa, Phillip J Adams of Creston, Iowa, James Robert Adams (wife Patti) of Overland Park, Kan., Mary Beth Lannon (husband Jim) of Ridgecrest, Calif., Nancy Bertch of Bella Vista, Ark., Jackie Adams (wife Patti) of Cordova, Ill. and Cindy Jensen (husband John) of Solon, Iowa, Kati (Linda Adams) and Lonnie Bayles with daughter Whitney Villhauer (husband Jordan) and son Hayden Bayles of Prescott, Iowa, and Aubrey (Linda Adams) and Brett Weldon with their daughter Scarlett of Round Rock, Texas.

Mike’s family moved from his childhood home in Macksburg City, Iowa, to Ohio for several years before returning to the Macksburg area where he graduated from Macksburg High School in 1959. Upon graduation he joined and served in the U.S. Navy as a structural aircraft mechanic hydraulics first class for 20 years active duty and 10 years reserve. His service was commissioned to several aircraft carriers including USS Oriskany, USS Coral Sea, and USS Kitty Hawk. Mike earned multiple military medals including three Good Conduct Medals. He retired from active duty Navy with Honorable Discharge in 1979 and from Navy Reserve in 1989.

After retirement from the Navy, Mike graduated Eastern Iowa Community College with an AA Degree in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, then utilizing his education as a boiler operator, technician, and commercial refrigeration repairman. Mike also drove a truck. He returned to Southwest Iowa around 1995 and married Linda Adams in 2004.

Together they enjoyed touring the local countryside by car or motorcycle, bird watching, and growing their home place. Mike enjoyed hunting, target shooting, and firearms in general. He could spend hours in his home garage admiring his cars, motorcycles and tinkering with their motors. He had an immense appreciation for collector, rare and restored vehicles and spent much of his final years watching the Barrett-Jackson live auctions. Mike proudly wore the Navy seal upon caps and t-shirts and walked as tall and proud as his body would allow. He was honored with a Quilt of Valor in 2020 at the Adam’s County Fair.

Mike’s memory will be cherished in the tools his hands held, the stories of great cars he drove, and his chuckle with winds of the road running through his hair, his smile at the antics of feisty birds in the flower beds outside the window, and visiting with friends and family he could impress with his tales. He has found peace and we should rejoice in his comfort. Mike will be interred with memorial service of full military honors in the Iowa Veterans Cemetery at Van Meter, Iowa, in October of this year. Condolences may be sent to the surviving family members, as you have known them.