Virgil Emerson Adams passed away Wednesday, January 28, 2015, at the age of 91.
Virgil couldn’t remember when he didn’t garden, fish and play around with words. He grew up on a farm near the little town of McLemoresville, Tenn. He learned gardening and fishing from a daddy who was pretty finicky about the way to garden and fish. He learned to study, read, and write from a mama who was a pretty stern taskmaster.
Virgil dropped out of high school and left the garden, the fishing hole, and his tablet and pencil, and joined the United States Navy in January, 1941. He was 17 and was supposed to get out the day he turned 21. World War II came along and changed that timetable. After the war, even though Virgil hadn’t graduated from high school, the G.I. Bill enabled him to enroll as a special student at Murray State College in Kentucky. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1949 and moved south with Mary, whom he met and married at Murray. Virgil enrolled at the University of Georgia to pursue a graduate degree.
Virgil became an employee of the University (news editor with the Cooperative Extension Service) in 1950. In 1956, he earned his Master’s degree in journalism. The following year, Virgil left the University to become personnel manager of Jefferson Mills. He also agreed to serve as editor of The Jackson County Herald for two weeks until the new owners of the paper could find an editor. The two weeks dragged out to two years, and Virgil became part owner of The Herald for his “untiring” efforts. In 1962 Virgil and a friend purchased The Hartwell Sun. It took only six months for Virgil to decide that ownership was not as much fun as writing and editing, so he sold his half of The Sun to his partner and returned to work at UGA until his retirement in 1982. After his retirement, Virgil wrote a weekly column for The Jackson Herald, and occasionally free-lanced for various other publications.
Virgil and Mary had lived in Jefferson since 1952, raised a daughter and three sons, enjoyed gardening, fishing and camping….until Mary died of cancer in 1996. Virgil married Shirley Gentry in 1998. They lived in Athens where Virgil continued to go fishing and camping for a week in the spring and a week in the fall with the Clark’s Hill Gang; it was a 40-year-old tradition. One thing he missed about Jefferson was his garden.
Virgil was preceded in death by his first wife Mary Smith Adams, son Neal Adams, and daughter Claire Byrd. He is survived by his second wife Shirley Gentry, stepdaughter Mary Beth Patat (Brice), sons Shannon Adams (Myra), and Miles Adams (Helen), daughter-in-law Alberta Allen, son-in-law Bill Byrd, grandchildren Heath Byrd, Sara Adams, Selena Adams, Leah Adams, Kelsey Brunson (Daniel-Isaac), Hunter Patat, Elizabeth Patat, and great-grandchild Elizabeth Pippin.
A celebration of Virgil’s life will be held Thursday, February 5, from 6 until 8 p.m. (drop-in) in the Galilee Christian Church Family Life Center located at 2191 Galilee Church Road in Jefferson.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial donations in Virgil’s name be sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Attn: Memorial Department, P.O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, TN 38148. (1-800-805-5856 or www.stjude.org)