Helen Adams (1914-2006)

ADAMS, STEVENS, SHEARER, WESENAUER, NAGASSAR, KAYE, PETERSON, WHITTINGTON, LAWSON

Posted By: Nevada Journal
Date: 10/19/2006 at 13:42:20

NEVADA JOURNAL, Nevada, Story County, Iowa, Thursday, October 19, 2006.

Helen Adams

Helen Edith Adams, 92, a native of Collins, Iowa, died Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006, at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Ginny Adams in rural Erhard, Minn.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 at Bacon Funeral Home in Nevada. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Collins. Visitation will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, and one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

She was born on March 20, 1914, in Collins, Iowa, the daughter of Bradford and Edith May (Shearer) Stevens. She grew up on a farm and was active in 4-H, serving as county president and earning various county and state awards. As a child, she survived an emergency appendectomy on the family's dining room table while she had the flu during the epidemic of 1918-19. Helen loved to read and memorize poetry, which she continued to recite throughout her life. In school she excelled in English and music, graduating from Collins High School in 1932 as valedictorian of her class. As a product of the Depression, she worked immediately after high school before attending Capital City Business College in Des Moines. She then worked at Meredith Publishing, the Iowa State Legislature, a casualty insurance company, and Consolidated Products, where she met her future husband, A.R. Adams. They were married Nov. 15, 1936, in the home of her parents. They lived the first six months in Portales, N.M., where Ray was transferred, then moved back to Des Moines. They lived there until January 1942 when they were transferred to Danville, Ill., where they spent the remainder of their married life. Helen spent their first years in Danville as a stay-at-home mom raising their two sons, Bob and Bill. In 1957 the couple went into retailing, operating card, gift, candy, book and bridal stores in Danville and Terre Haute, Ind., until 1975. The family had a saying that Ray never bought a store that Helen couldn't manage.
During those years, they also were involved with real estate, with Helen earning her broker's license and operating Adams Realty until 1992. During the period 1975 to 1998, Helen joined Ray in the church furniture business, traveling together throughout the Midwest. Helen was a member of Central Christian Church in Danville for more than 50 years. She was also active in the Altrusa International, a professional women's organization, serving as the group's president in 1968. In 2002, after suffering a broken hip, she moved to the Fergus Falls, Minn., area to recuperate at the home of her son and daughter-in-law before moving to the Mill Street Residence where she remained until September 2006 when she returned to Bill and Ginny's home. She was preceded in death by her father, Bradford Stevens; her mother, Edith May (Shearer) Stevens; her sister, Anna Eliza Wesenauer; and her husband, Ray Adams. She is survived by two sons Robert R. (Sandra) of Bowling Green, Ky., and William B. (Virginia) of Erhard, Minn.; a brother, Norman Stevens of Santa Barbara, Calif.; grandchildren Andrew Ray Adams, Forrest (Liping) Adams, Elizabeth Adams, Stacy (Nigel) Nagassar, Brady and Brendan Kaye, Paul Peterson, Chad, Justin and Nicole Whittington, Tara (Jason) Lawson, Clinton Whittington; and one great-granddaughter, Karissa Adams. Memorials preferred to the Student Publications Building Fund at Western Kentucky University. Donations may be sent to the WKU Foundation, 1906 College Heights Blvd., Bowling Green, KY 42101 in memory of Helen and Ray Adams.

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