Robert Walker Adams Jr., 71, Vanderbilt's first medical resident in psychiatry, was fondly remembered by friends and family yesterday. "He was a wonderful man and a real Southern gentleman," said Dr. Peter Loosen, chief of Vanderbilt's Psychiatry Service. "He was well liked." Dr. Adams, who died Monday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, ADAMS was buried in graveside service Wednesday at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens. Born in Ashburn, Ga., Dr. Adams attended Emory University and later graduated from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. In 1943, he married Prances Langston Adams, of Little Rock. Vanderbilt's first resident In psychiatry In 1949, Dr. Adams was later named an instructor there. He was made an assistant professor in 1956. In 1968, he became associate clinical professor of psychiatry, a position in which he remained for the rest of his life. He worked as an instructor of psychiatry at Meharry Medical College, as attending physician and then consultant at the Veterans Administration Hospital and as psychi-atrist-in-chief of Vanderbilt's Outpatient Psychiatric Department In 1968, he began a private practice in psychiatry. Dr. Adams served In the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Psychiatrist Neurology and was a medical adviser with the Tennessee chapter of the American Association of Medical Assistants Inc. In addition to memberships in many professional organizations, he was a fellow of the Southern Psychiatric Association and the American Psychiatric Association. He published three papers on emotional problems and depression in the middle-aged male. Survivors, in addition to his wife, include four daughters, Fran Marney, of Spring, Texas, Suzy Wicks, of Tucson, Ariz., Patty Adams, of Dallas, Texas, and Anne Adams of Nashville; one sister, Carolyn Gardner, of Atlanta, and five grandchildren.... -- The Tennessean, May 1, 1992.