Dr. Frederick Palmer Adams 90, of Auburn, died at home March 31, 2012. His funeral service will be held Tuesday, April 3, at 2 p.m., at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Opelika, with the Rev. Chris Duncan officiating. The family will receive friends 1-2 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, at the church. A private burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Tuscumbia, Ala., at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 4. Dr. Adams was born in Boston, Mass., on July 20, 1921, but moved to Sheffield, Ala., at the age of 4. He graduated from Sheffield High School in 1938. He then attended Auburn University and in 1942 received a BS degree in electrical engineering. Following graduation, he was commissioned into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, serving in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was discharged with the rank of major. He then returned to school and obtained a BS from MIT in industrial engineering management. When the Korean War broke out, he returned to the Army and again served his country. Following the war, Dr. Adams returned to civilian life, and during the next 20 years held management positions in industry with Wolverine Tube in Detroit, Mich., and Ford Motor Co., in Sheffield, Ala. In 1968, Dr. Adams returned to school, receiving an MBA from the University of Alabama in 1970. He moved to Florida State University to complete his Ph.D in 1975. Following graduation, he returned to Auburn University College of Business, where he spent 22 years before retiring in 1987 as associate professor emeritus. Dr. Adams belongs to the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Opelika, and in Birmingham attends Briarwood Presbyterian Church. He was preceded in death by his wife, Everette Mitchell Adams; son, Ralph Hamilton Adams; parents, Margaret and Raymond Adams; and brother, Raymond Adams Jr. Dr. Adams is survived by his wife, Mary Lib Sharp Adams, Auburn; daughter, Susan Adams Bruce (Charles) Opelika; daughter-in-law, Nancy Tumlinson Adams (Ralph) Muscle Shoals; his niece, Margo Adams Magness, Grand Falls, Texas; nephew, Rick Larkin Adams (Cecelia), Neptune Beach, Fla.; children of Mary Lib, Patty Reynolds (Harris), Pensacola, Fla., Jim Sharp (Jane), Birmingham, and David Sharp, Jasper, Ga. Dr. Adams has four grandchildren, Shannon Bruce Crews (Adam), Auburn, Chad Adam Bruce, (Suzanne), Birmingham, Leigh Adams Burcham (Josh), Muscle Shoals, and Lane Adams Kilgore, (Kevin), Muscle Shoals. He also has four great-grandchildren. Special thanks to Dr. Linda Farmer of the Cancer Center at EAMC and Joel Smith of ALACARE Hospice for their care and support. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Opelika, Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, or your favorite charity.

Published in Florence Times Daily on April 2, 2012