Charles Lee Adams

Charles Lee Adams, 88, died Aug. 8, 2013, at home. Charles was born in Amarillo, Texas, to Charles Chester and Bonnie Lee (McCubbins) Adams on Feb. 13, 1925. His grandmother begged his mother to wait until Valentine's Day but Bonnie wasn't waiting any longer so he was born on the kitchen table after she fixed the doctor lunch. His parents prayed him through several serious illnesses as a child and he was totally healed as a young man after working for a concrete contractor. He spent the next 30 years building and remodeling homes until he was tricked into becoming a reading teacher by Fayetteville's Laubach literacy program. He created a system for teaching at risk elementary children how to read and do arithmetic at "The Learning Bridge," where hundreds of Fayetteville boys and girls began to love learning by completing woodworking plans and other specially designed projects. After 15 years of teaching in the Fayetteville Public Schools, he retired to his farm and cared for his sister Annabel until her death. During her last days in hospice care he met and later married the love of his life, Maryalice Kelly. Together with her, he touched the lives of many more children as a Sunday school teacher and at Unity of Fayetteville Summer Camps at Adams Acres. In 2007, after the tragic death of their close friends Randy and Martha Doyle he became a first time father of his two Godchildren, Patrick and Lilith Doyle. He continued to work the farm until they finished school and he retired for good at the age of 86. He will be missed by all of those who were touched by his energy, optimism, and supportive love. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister along with many close friends. He is survived by his wife, his Godson Patrick of Rogers, his God-daughter Lilith of Fayetteville, his sister-in-law Cathy Piercy of Goshen, his niece Aurora and husband Spencer Myers of Fayetteville, his niece Chloe and husband David Pulliam of Goshen and his great-niece Dru Myers and great-nephews Jaxson and Will Myers and Vincent Pulliam. Services will be held at Unity of Fayetteville, 4880 W Wedington Drive at Aug. 17 at 10 a.m. Memorials may be made to Unity of Fayetteville or any charity that benefits children. Online tributes to the family may be made at www.bentoncountymemorialpark.com. Arrangements are with Benton County Memorial Park Funeral Home and Crematory of Rogers, Ark.