Raymond James Adams of St Louis, Missouri, loving and devoted Husband, Father and Friend departed this earth for a better life on Tuesday July 12, 2011.

He will once again be with his wife LaVerne, son Michael and his parents, family and friends as they take their places with God. Raymond served in WWII on a Coast Guard Cutter used as an Admiral’s Flag ship during the European Campaign and spent many years as a Tug boat pilot on the Mississippi in the St Louis Harbor. He always loved being by the water.

He is survived by his children; James Adams, of Coos Bay, OR; Mary Susan Peters, of San Diego, CA; Patricia Neal, of St Louis, MO; Joseph Adams, of Montgomery City, MO; Karen Halbert, of Hematite, MO; Kevin Adams, of Silverton, OR; Janet Pauling, of Alexandria, VA; and David Adams, of St Charles, MO. Raymond will be missed.

A burial mass will be held on 7/18/2011 at 10AM with visitation starting at 9:00 AM 1 hr before the Mass at the Church of Our Lady address 1550 St Mary Lane Festus MO, 63028, followed by internment at Resurrection Cemetery.

Eulogy read at the funeral:

Raymond James Adams was born in St Louis, to Mary Murphy, of Ireland and James Dechi Adams of Albania on Aug 1, 1923. He was a man of immense devotion to his Catholic faith; his wife Laverne and his family. He started his career as a seaman in the Coast Guard during WWII as a Seaman on an Admiral Flagship in the Mediterranean. After returning to the states he married the love of his life for 63 years Laverne and commenced to propagate their family of 9 children; Michael, James, Mary Susan, Patricia, Joseph, Karen, Kevin, Janet and David.; 11 grandchildren; Eric, Erin, Sean , Shannon, Tim, Mike, Matt, Kristin, Alex, Hannah, and Kali; and 6 Great Grandchildren: Jacob, Mikeala, Isabel, Amelia, Sora and Benjamin Ray.   

Ray spent many years as a tugboat pilot on the Mississippi River in the St Louis Harbor. Although this life was a tough one, interfacing on a daily basis with rough men, Ray had an outer toughness that was filled with an inner kindness and gentleness. I remember seeing him back down 3 large men from beating up on one man and then being gentle enough to have one of pet parakeets lay an egg in his hand. He was truly tough when he needed to be but quite capable of showing great amounts of gentleness and kindness when the situation required. 

Raymond loved us all very dearly, but especially Mom. During the last 10 years of her life, she was sick off and on with various illnesses. He was always there to take care of her; no matter what kind of pain he was in personally. It didn’t matter; he just did it, with very little or no complaints.

While they were together, Vernie and Ray loved to travel and see as many of their children and places as possible. They especially liked the Oregon Coast.  After Laverne passed, Ray spent as much time as he could painting. He enjoyed it tremendously. He loved seeing the birds, squirrels, turkeys and deer and was inspired by nature. In the past year, he as able to donate several of his paintings for a silent auction sponsored by the church and was delighted to hear his paintings brought in a total of $5,500. 

His Life was no picnic. He worked hard and never had much to show for it. But, as he said in his last will and testament, “To all my children, I leave what little money, if any, to split evenly between you. But primarily, I leave you my Love”. 

He didn’t teach any of us everything, but he did teach a lot of us several things:

A good work ethic – you have to work hard to achieve anything worth having.

Above all other things love and show love for others.

Be kind to animals.

Try to be kind to others – this is sometimes tough to do, but try.

Forgive and try to move on. If you need help, ask for it – God is listening.