Ronald Glenson Adams

Ronald Adams was born in Dogwood Neck, South Carolina, right between Boggy Swamp and Brown Bog. Growing up on the farm, he got to know animals of all kinds and people of all characters. He stole the sugarcane and wrapped himself in the long skirts of his favorite grandmother, Sarah, for safety.

As an adult he gravitated towards strong-minded women. He met Lucretia “Teace” McKey in college at the University of South Carolina, and one day while sitting beneath a statue of a man on horseback he sang to her "Don't sit under the horse's tail with anyone else but me." The relationship, started so auspiciously, could not be anything but true love.

Being either romantic and in love, or thrifty and considering military benefits (depending on which of them you asked), the pair eloped when Ron was drafted in the Korean War. They moved to El Paso, where he was stationed, and when the war was over they continued west, to California, and finally making a home in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Ron worked as an electrical engineer, eventually starting his own company, Energy Control Systems.

They were by then a family of six, with three sassy daughters and one artistic son. Ron was surrounded by strong willed women and every animal his wayward children could drag home. In time, he had the very best and sassiest granddaughter, and his family seemed complete. Unfortunately, Teace had heart disease and became disabled by a series of strokes. Ron cared for her devotedly until her death in 2002.

After Teace passed away, Ron spent more time at the Atkinson Memorial Church. As a young man, he had taught the children Creative Pot Banging in Sunday School, much to the congregation's chagrin. As an elder, he took part in a similar, more accepted, activity - the Sunday Forum.

Ron began dating another strong-minded woman, Dolores Heard, who he knew from church. Soon he had a very happy life, doing jigsaw puzzles and traveling with Dolores, getting to know her daughters, watching his granddaughter grow up, and surreptitiously snuggling all of the cats he professed to dislike. He once told his eldest daughter that his 80s were his best years.

During the course of Ron’s life the world changed, apparently trying to keep up with him. In the course of his long life, he learned to make soap, to psychologically assess Korean war veterans, to design alternative energy sources, and to trade stocks online. He was fascinated by green technology and would extol the virtues of heat pumps and solar panels. When Ron passed away at 93, it was much too soon for all who loved him. He is survived by his children, Rhonda (Wendy Lebow), Stuart, Sarah, and Amy Salisbury (Clark); granddaughter, Emma; and by his partner, Dolores Heard.

A celebration of life will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, July 27th, 2024 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Willamette Falls (formerly Atkinson Memorial Church), 710 Sixth St., Oregon City.

Remembrances to the church or to the charity of your choice.