Kenneth M. Adams was born the tenth child of eleven children to Charles and Lela Utley Adams in Grinnell, Iowa. He was raised on the family farm near Newburg and attended Grinnell schools. Kenny was a gifted athlete in high school and excelled in track, basketball and football. He graduated from Grinnell School with the class of 1948.

Kenny was united in marriage to Betty Jean Bennington of Newburg on August 1, 1948, at the Newburg Congregational Church. The couple built and made their home in Newburg, where they have lived all of their lives. Kenny worked at Tennes Lumberyard in Newburg and at Holland Plastics of Gilman before working with his brother at Thompson-Adams Construction of Grinnell. He was a member of the Newburg-Chester Congregational Church and a member of the Grinnell Eagles Aerie #2545, where he served as past president and then secretary-treasurer for eighteen years. During his retirement years, he volunteered to drive for those who were not able. His enjoyments included gardening, dismantling old cars to recycle their parts, and watching sports on T.V., especially the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kenny was an Iowa Hawkeye football season ticket holder for over thirty years.

Kenny is survived by his wife Betty of Newburg; his children, Teresa (Rick) Innis of Iowa City, Iowa, Vicki Smith of Newburg, and Chadler Adams of Newburg; nine grandchildren; twelve great grandchildren; and one great-great grandson; his brothers, Virgel Adams of Kansas City, Missouri and Clayton Adams of Ashville, North Carolina; his sisters, Lucille Ackerman of Omaha, Nebraska, and Maxine Thompson of Gilman, Iowa. Kenny preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Leonard (Red), Raymond, and Melvin Adams; and his sisters, Dorothy Adams, Wanda Adams, and Beulah Corrick.