John Widner Adams

John Widner Adams, age 97, passed away Monday, July 7, 2025, at his home in Lyons, Georgia. Preceded in death by the love of his life, Addie Faye Davenport Adams in 2016, he is survived by his children Janet Adams Barras (Kenneth), Mark Adams (Cathy), and Alan Adams (Tracy); his six grandchildren including Anna Adams Groce (Daniel), Anson John “AJ” Adams (Sara), Justin Adams (Jaclyn), Evan Adams, Lane Adams (Cheyenne), and Lauren Adams; and eight great-grandchildren including Stephenson Groce, Adams “Addie” Faye Groce, Jovi Adams, Carter Adams, Everly Adams, John Alan Adams, Hugh Callaway Adams, and Frances Cecelia Adams, born one day before her great-grandfather died; brother-in-law Charles Davenport (and Judy), and sister-in-law, Frances Davenport Dowdy. Additionally, he is survived by more than 80 nieces and nephews.

John was born May 8, 1928, in Carrollton, Georgia, the ninth and youngest child of parents Isaac Olin Adams and Mary Carolyn Widner Adams. His brothers and sisters and their spouses, all of whom preceded him in death, include: Winnie Massey (J.W.); Lloyd (Fern); Ralph (Ann); Mary Nixon (Olin); William “W.P.”; Hugh (Margaret); James (Vera); and Bill (Victoria). The family owned a well-drilling business which served the rural farming communities and nearby areas in west Georgia.

A high-achieving student, a lifelong avid reader, and a fine athlete with good habits, strong discipline, team loyalty, and a competitive spirit, John excelled in the classroom and on the playing field, belonging to baseball, basketball, football, and track and field teams. After graduating from Carroll County High School, he attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, and played catcher on the baseball team. He transferred to University of Georgia in Athens to complete his bachelor’s degree in agronomy in 1950.

Much to the dismay of his family, John was drafted into the US Army in 1951. The Adams Family of Carrollton had already sacrificed one of their seven sons in service to the country – W.P. Adams had died as result of injuries sustained in the D-Day invasion of 1944. Uncomprehendingly, there were five Adams sons concurrently serving in World War II – Ralph, W.P., Hugh, James, and Bill. Still, it was a harrowing ordeal for the family to have five of seven sons at war. So when youngest son John’s draft orders came through in 1950, the family was anguished that John would be their sixth son to serve in a foreign war.

And then the unthinkable happened – John and his battalion were captured by the Chinese in North Korea and held as Prisoners of War. Months went by without his sweetheart Faye and his family knowing whether John was dead or alive. It was only through a propaganda photograph that landed in the Atlanta Journal- Constitution that the family learned he was alive. John was photographed as the shot put champion in the POW Camp’s track and field meet, and the Adams family’s hope was reinvigorated, knowing he was alive. John was released in August 1953 after 27 months of captivity, when the armistice was signed. Upon his return to the US and to his hometown of Carrollton, the city celebrated with a parade in his honor, and awarded him keys to a brand new 1953 Ford sedan.

John’s POW experience left a permanent imprint on his perspective about what really matters most in this one life. It shaped hIs values, and created a clarity of purpose that included  longsuffering, courage, resilience, patience, patriotism, loyalty, kindness, gratitude, and service. While he dealt internally with reconciling the horrors of his experience, he also expanded his capacity to love, care for, equip, and protect those he loved most.

The young lady he loved ‘most’ was Faye Davenport of Buchanan, Georgia, and the two of them were married in First Baptist Church of Atlanta on June 6, 1954. As they began their married lives, John took a position with the US Government as Soil Conservationist, starting his career in rural Greenville, Georgia. Janet and Mark were born there. Then, with John’s promotion to Lyons, Georgia, the family of four relocated, and soon became a family of five with the birth of Alan.

Farming was a primary economic driver of Toombs County in the 1960s, and John developed a strong reputation for his deep knowledge and expertise in understanding soil quality, erosion management, water and irrigation management, pond construction, and crop diversity/rotation. John took seriously his role in ensuring the stewardship of this wondrous and finite creation of God – the earth, water, and air. John’s unique and practical competence in ‘seeing the lines’ of water flow above and below ground was on display as recently as two days before his passing, where he was seen digging trenches – with his shovel, in the heat of the sun – in his friend’s yard where he was providing consulting and hands-on remediation to help mitigate the post-Helene flooding. Thankfully, he had shared his vision/plan with son Mark, who will continue the project through to completion.

Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on his own yard, which was one of the most idyllic and peaceful yards in this town, with many massive and stately oak trees, grapevines, a babbling creek lined with oak leaf hydrangeas, and a beautiful backyard swing where many important and mundane conversations and connections were made over the years. And the azaleas – his half acre of deep pink azaleas created a saturated riot of color in the springtime, with more than 40 bushes in close proximity, indescribable in its beauty. John took the loss of all this beauty – which he had carefully nurtured and tended over decades – in stride. He remarked that he wouldn’t be around to see the next incarnation of his backyard, but he still took time to repair and start again as much as possible. He trusted that the earth, with God’s help, would find ways to renew itself.

This intimate knowledge of the land, its richness as a resource, and its limitations framed the portal through which John served, transforming his community. In the 1970s, he worked directly with Lyons Recreation Department and Director Anson Callaway to design and construct multiple playing fields at Partin Park, each field expertly terraced and properly drain-designed so that the playing surfaces, both grass and red clay, would be resilient, with rapid recovery from the area’s torrential summer rains. He contributed hundreds of hours of volunteer consulting, planning, drawing, and hands-on-shovel labor to ensure the premium quality of the playing fields for decades. The batting cage at Partin Park is named in John’s honor, in acknowledgement of this transformative contribution.

Many people have witnessed John in action at Toombs County’s football and baseball fields, where on dozens of mornings each year, John could be seen collecting soil samples with a 4-inch hand augur, and tending the playing fields, shifting water flow, raking, cutting ditches, and ensuring premium playing conditions for upcoming competition. The work was back breaking and relentless, and perpetually shade-free. John consistently showed up to make improvements, day after day.

One of the perks of the pond-construction expertise he provided to so many farmers was a multitude of invitations to fish in their stocked ponds. Through his work and his fishing, John knew every farm, every field, every pasture, and every pond in Toombs County. He knew the families that lived on the homesteads, and he respected the uncommon work ethic and courage required for the essential work of farming. He kept track of all ‘his’ clients – their life milestones, illnesses, deaths, marriages, children, losses, etc. He loved people, and his social currency was an humble expertise, patient listening, an insatiable curiosity to learn new techniques and approaches, and the loving acceptance of the wholeness of his friends and acquaintances. While his family occasionally accused him of ‘gossiping’ he happily shared what he knew, which was a lot! Never mean-spirited and always gentle, he was incapable of uttering a negative word about anyone, and always found a way to see the best in everyone.

John planted stakes in the ground in Lyons, and joined civic service organizations including the Jaycees, and also the Lions Club where he was an active member for more than forty years and was inducted into the Lions Hall of Fame. While his leadership approach was quiet and soft-spoken, his example, through actions and service, spoke volumes. Over the years he was acknowledged with numerous awards and recognitions. These include being named Lyons Citizen of the Year, and the appointment in 2022 as Grand Marshal of the Lyons Christmas Parade. Quite unexpectedly, he embraced the parade Marshal role, and relished the spotlight, waving, laughing, and throwing candy with a still-powerful arm, probably a holdover from the thousands of times he had thrown the ball back to the pitcher’s mound from his place behind home plate in his college baseball days. He was thrilled to reprise this parade experience in 2023, much to the delight of parade-goers.

John’s faith and his church played a big role in his life, and he taught Sunday School for many years. As a longtime member of the Men of Faith Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church of Lyons, he prioritized these relationships. The men of this Class have collectively and individually modeled lives of faith, compassion, generosity, and loyalty, praying together and serving together. In addition, John served the congregation as elected deacon, usher, committee chairman, grounds keeper, and prayer group leader. He seldom missed services, and drove himself to church the day before he passed away.

There have been harrowing seasons in John’s long life. And there have been many more moments of transcendent joy, beauty, and inspiration. When his beloved Faye’s health began to suffer in 2010, and her level of needed care became such that she moved to assisted living, John was with her morning, noon, and night. Literally. He sat beside her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every single day. For nearly seven years. He became a popular member of the Oxley Park family in Lyons, and developed deep and personal relationships with many of the other clients and staff. The devotion he displayed throughout Faye’s final years never wavered. He was completely unselfish with his time and energy, unfazed by the ‘sameness’ of the day-to-day routines, and perpetually grateful for the privilege to take care of his partner and bring her joy.

John took great delight in many activities including going to church, going fishing – especially with his brothers-in-law in west Georgia, hunting quail, visiting his friends, being visited by his friends, being checked on by his neighbors, checking his mail at the post office, digging in the dirt, nurturing his grapevines, making cornbread every few days, and planting and tending a productive vegetable garden for decades, with corn, tomatoes, peas, squash, watermelon, peppers, cucumbers, and more corn. The annual ‘putting up corn’ weekend in July was a centerpiece of the summer requiring all hands on deck for the three-day event, and the family ate well from the bounty long into the winter.

John held friendship in high regard, and maintained a lifelong friendship with his childhood buddy from Carrollton – James Edwin ‘Red’ Roberts. He and Red spoke on the phone nearly every  week, and as the years passed, the four-hour driving distance between Lyons and Carrollton grew more difficult to manage for in-person visits as frequently as they would have liked. In the past decade, John made a point to visit family in west Georgia a few times each year, and these road trips included time to sit and talk with Red. He and Red grieved with each when each lost their spouses, and one of John’s saddest occasions was Red’s death in 2022. Their bond was rare and enviable, and it was their mutual commitment to the relationship that sustained it for more than 80 years.

Nothing pleased John more than to be surrounded by his family – his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And, his many nephews and nieces. He was proud of their accomplishments and personalities and adventurous spirits, and he drew them close to himself and into his love. All the ‘littles’ and even the ‘bigs’ ran into Grandpa John’s open arms as the first act of arriving at his home.

Because he paid close attention, he saw needs that were oftentimes missed by other folks. And when he saw a need, he stepped up to meet the need. Thankfully, his courage was larger than his self-doubts. Throughout his nearly 100-year life, he stepped up again and again, for his family, his God, his country, his community, and his fellow soldiers. We who are left behind can see further and longer because we stand on his considerable shoulders.

John Adams will be long remembered for his easy laugh, his slow and quiet speaking, his welcoming and affirming presence, his complete attentiveness towards the person in front of him, his generosity of time and talents, his frugality, his economical way with words, his profound expertise in anything related to soil and water management, his perfect cornbread, and his knowledge of current events, both in the world, and around town. He kept up, kept in touch, kept his own counsel, and kept his word. He had an appetite for learning and reading, a healthy curiosity, and a willingness to embrace change. He didn’t believe in shortcuts. He didn’t believe in buying anything ‘on credit’. He didn’t believe he’d ever want to eat rice again after his POW experience. He didn’t believe in raising his voice. John Adams did believe in tithing and sacrificial giving to the Kingdom of God and causes that mattered to him and his family, such as youth sports and veterans. He believed in the power of prayer and he believed that because he was a child of God, his work mattered, his stewardship mattered, and his life mattered. And he was right.

If you’d like to make a contribution to honor John Adams’ memory, he would welcome your giving to First Baptist Church of Lyons, 144 South Washington Street, Lyons, Georgia, 30436, or to the charity of your choice. Thank you.

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