Eugene Bert Adams

We are missing a really good guy today. Gene died August 23, 2021, of complications due to dementia after 90 years of real living.

Gene was the third of four children born to Harold and Helen Adams, born in Chehalis, Washington, June 28, 1931. He is survived by his wife, Bette (Bergin), two sons, Tom Adams of Kennewick, and Tim Adams of Yakima, and his younger sister, Linda Cameron, of Kennewick. He is also survived by two grandsons, Daniel and Chris, and two great grandsons, Jonathan and Caleb. He is preceded in death by his oldest brothers, Jack and Bill, and his first wife of 48 years, Ginny.

Gene moved to Yakima when he was 6 years old, attended Franklin Junior High and Davis High School, graduating with the class of ’51.

He attended Yakima Junior College and enrolled in the Coast Guard Reserve, where he served in active duty on the USS Ritchy and was stationed in Hawaii as a driver for Rear Admiral Perkins, not a bad assignment! During that time, he married Virginia “Ginny” Neal, also of Yakima.

Upon discharge, Gene worked for his father at Beard-Adams Seed Company until the business closed. He worked for a time with Bi-Mart managing the lawn and garden department, then in sales at Shields Bag Company. But Gene found his niche when he passed his license to be a Life Underwriter with New York Life Insurance, from which he retired after 38 years.

Gene loved cars, tennis, antiques, boating and fishing, but he especially loved people. He was a member of the Yakima Sports Car Club, winning road rallies in a 1955 VW Beetle. He was part of the pit crew for Dick Hahn’s Ferrari racing team. He was a charter member of the Yakima Tennis Club and a founding member of the Southwest Rotary Club, where he was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow. He was also a member of Englewood Christian Church where he sang in the choir and cooked for the men’s bible study.

There were two people who kept Gene grounded; his wife, Ginny, who put up with his antics and with whom he created a home and a family and shared friendships. After Ginny died following a long battle with lymphoma, he met and married Bette Bergin, a person who shared the loss of a partner from cancer. Gene and Bette danced their way into road trips and marriage, which gave Gene a new lease on life until he was diagnosed with dementia and he forgot the steps and lost his sense of direction. Bette managed their life together for another 10 years until his passing at Brookdale Memory Care in Richland.

Gene will best be remembered for considering everyone a friend, Priest Lake vacations, waffles hot off the grill, being the guy you could depend on, the fish he caught at Twin Lakes, and any other body of water, the service he provided to the community he loved, and the clients he enjoyed. He never met a stranger.

Gene’s life will be celebrated on Saturday, September 25, at 11:00am at Englewood Christian Church. Bring your stories! For tributes and stories online visit www.keithandkeith.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Southwest Rotary or Alzheimer’s for the Cure, http://www.curealzfund.org