John David Adams

April 3, 1933 - January 10, 2019

John David Adams of Cary, NC passed on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at Transitions Lifecare after losing his battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Loretta Allen-Adams and his children: Kenneth Lee Adams, James Andrew Adams of Apex and wife Harriet and their children Caitlin Davidson, Daniel Watts, and Carol Anne Watts, his step-son Pruitt Young Allen of Arlington, VA and wife Julie Allen. He is also survived by his siblings William H. Adams III, Nellie Lynch, and Julie Sleeper. John had a long and fulfilling life beginning in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of William H. Adams, Jr. and Florence Vought Adams. He had three siblings: William H. Adams III, Nellie Lynch, and Julie Sleeper. Life began in the time when the family owned a hotel in Atlantic Beach, Florida. There he helped with towels at the beach dressing rooms as well as the roller coaster that was on the beach. He was an avid Boy Scout and tells a story of a friend whose mother didn’t understand what the swimming merit badge was so she sewed it on the sash as if he was standing up. She thought it was for Beach Combing. John attended Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school in Pennsylvania. During the Korean war John joined ROTC and then enlisted in the Navy where he was in the Medical Corp. He did not serve overseas but transported local psychiatric patients. While he did not enjoy this, it was the beginning of a long life of helping and caring for others. John went to Duke University where he met his first wife Patricia Kay Couchman. After they were married and he graduated, they moved to Dallas, Texas where he attended Southern Methodist University. There, Kenneth Lee Adams and James Andrew Adams were born. They then moved to Jupiter, Florida where John was employed by Pratt & Whitney as an electrical engineer. They eventually moved to Hillsborough, North Carolina where he worked for Duke University in the shop of the School of Physiology and Pharmacology. He earned a Masters of Science in Management (MSM) from Duke and moved into management at the school of Physiology and Pharmacology. John met and married his second wife Loretta Allen in 1975. She and her son Pruitt Young Allen joined John on the rest of his journey. They moved to Towson, Maryland where John worked at Johns Hopkins Medical School as an administrator for a department in the medical school. While there he began to battle non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, they moved back to Durham, North Carolina to be near Loretta’s family. John was able to beat the cancer and went to North Carolina State University to begin an advanced degree in Electrical Engineering. John worked for several years as a quality engineer at Data General in Clayton, North Carolina. He ended his career working for a company in Malaysia designing an uninterruptible power supply. While there, John developed a love of Malaysian furniture, food, and culture. After retiring, John joined the American Red Cross as a volunteer where he went on disaster relief missions in the state. His job was in the logistical end of things, ensuring that all the volunteers had the vehicles and supplies necessary to provide needed relief. Eventually he rose in the ranks until he was going to national emergencies. He went to Guam for hurricane relief as well as New York right after 9/11. In all, he participated in 23 different relief missions. Volunteering with the Red Cross was not his only way of giving back. John and Loretta were members of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh where he was a regular Sunday school teacher. He was always taking people under his wing and helping where needed. Thanksgiving dinners in the Adams’ household always included someone new, down on their luck or needing a helping hand. These people were not just given a meal but were followed through their lives. John always did what he could to help. Because of the AIDS epidemic, John and Loretta became involved in the local LGBTQ community. He supported Drag Queen Bingo at the Durham Armory for many years where he worked the concession stand during each event. He regularly hosted parties at his home for members of the community. We will remember John as a man who was full of life, a world traveler, a man who gave of himself fully, a loving father, a devoted husband. Services will be held at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in downtown Raleigh, NC, January 20, 2019 at 1:30pm.