Obituary of Barbara M. Adams

Barbara Francis (Morgan) Adams, 89, passed away on November 29, 2014 in Philadelphia, PA. She was born on July 23, 1925 in Pownal Vermont, where her ancestors included some of the earliest settlers of Pownal, and the State of Vermont. Barbara received her education first in Pownal in a one room school for first through eighth grades, and was graduated from Bennington High School in 1943. Her strong academic skills and interest in teaching were rewarded with a scholarship to the University of Vermont. She received a B.S.Ed. from UVM in 1946, having accelerated through her course work. Upon graduation she taught English in Middlebury High School for two years. On July 20, 1947 she married Kirt A. Adams of Bennington VT, returning there to teach English at BHS. Barbara and Kirt built a home in Pownal where they thought they would always live, but fate intervened. In 1952, on the same day as the birth of their first child, a union vote at EZ Mills determined the closing of the mill, and the end to Kirt's job. They chose to move to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania where Kirt found a similar management position. The Adamses resided in Eagleville PA for ten years, and Audubon PA for more than fifty. While her children were young, Barbara was a full time homemaker and mother. When her youngest went to school, she returned to teaching. She taught French in elementary schools in Phoenixville (PA) during the 60s, returning to teaching high school English in the Great Valley School District from 1969 to 1976. Later, she was the librarian as well as teacher of English and French at Hill Top Preparatory School in Rosemont PA. Her last years of employment were in the field of library science. She worked for the Norristown Library as the Director of the Retrospective Conversion Project, and as Assistant Librarian for Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Winterthur Museum library in Winterthur, DE. She described this as her favorite job. Barbara was a generous and kind person, a loving wife, mother and grandmother, a gifted writer, and a popular teacher. She enjoyed language, history, poetry and literature, and throughout her life possessed the love of learning. She earned three masters degrees; M.Ed. (French) West Chester PA 1967, M.A. (English) Villanova 1972, and M.S. Library Science, Villanova 1980. After retirement she earned a paralegal certificate from Penn State and assisted her daughter part time in her law office in the Lehigh Valley. She also attended many Elderhostel courses across the country, and was dedicated to the concept of lifelong learning. Retirement gave Barbara and Kirt the time to travel and pursue other hobbies, which for Barbara included genealogy, knitting, and spending time with grandchildren, for whom she enjoyed making cookies. For many years she and Kirt had a summer home on Lake Blaisdell in South Sutton NH. More recently they spent part of each year in South Ryegate VT, near two of their children. Barbara was a member of several hereditary organizations, including D.A.R., Colonial Dames of Vermont, Descendants of Colonial Clergy, The Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania, Flagon and Trencher, and Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century. In the latter she served as Registrar of the Penn's Grant Chapter and Pennsylvania State Registrar. Barbara is survived by her husband of 67 years, Kirt A. Adams of Lafayette Hill, PA, and three children: Kirt W. Adams and his wife Joanne of North Danville, VT; Peter M. Adams and his wife Karen of West Chester, PA, and Carolyn L. Adams, Esq., of South Ryegate VT. Five grandchildren; Chloe M. Adams of St. Louis MO, Aurora M. Adams of Lexington KY; Carolyn J. Adams, Jacob M. Adams, and Mary Elizabeth Adams all of West Chester PA; many cousins, nieces and nephews, as well as generations of students in Vermont and Pennsylvania. She was predeceased by her parents,William Barber Morgan and Ada (Morgan) Morgan, of Pownal VT, and her sisters, Lucy (Morgan) Woodward, Ada Ruth Morgan, and Rachel (Morgan) Sargent, all of New London NH. A private committal service in Park Lawn Cemetery, Bennington VT, is planned in the spring. In lieu of flowers it is suggested that a donation be made to a library or historical society.