by Frank Schroth
Our children’s first public school teacher was Ms. Adams. Ms. Adams taught for 35 years. Later in life, she volunteered at Milton Hospital. She recently died in the arms of staff at Fuller Village. The Fuller Community held a memorial for Marty Adams yesterday attended by her friends there as well as family, neighbors from her old East Milton neighborhood, colleagues from Glover Elementary, and staff from Milton Hospital. This is some of what they had to say.
“There is one word to describe Mary — positive . . . when Marty put her mind to something she was all in.”
— Karen, Marty’s niece
“What endeared Marty to us was her light-hearted spirit, her humor, and her willingness to help. [She] met detours with fierce independence – seemingly nothing broke her spirit.”
— Nancy from Milton Hospital
“I knew that she was always doing what she wanted to do. . . she was full of hope [and] a willingness and want to live until the very last”
— Charles, Marty’s brother
“Life might have wanted to bring her down but it didn’t succeed. She had a lot of life left in her when she died [and] she left us when she was still in charge.”
— Reverend Jeff Johnson, FIrst Congregational Church
Reverend Johnson noted that Ms. Adams loved to travel. Later in life she suffered from diabetes and required support of an oxygen tank. She had given up driving and air travel had become impractical, but with certain aplomb said, “You know — there’s always the train.”
Ms. Adams will be remembered as Rev Johnson said, as a woman “who led a life in service to others.”
Last night I came across this post on a web site. It seemed fitting.
The passing of a classic Milton teacher. Both of our boys had Ms. Adams and for her, it was ALL about the kids. I shared with my youngest today about when he broke his leg, Ms. Adams was quick to make it a positive. She said “Well now that he’s in a wheelchair, we can figure out if he is left or right handed….I can lock the wheel chair at the writing table and he will have to spend time trying to write. I promise to make this fun for him…” and she did. Will doesn’t remember being “locked down” but he does remember having all of his classmates push him in his wheelchair. Bless you Ms. Adams.
My condolences to Charlie, Kathy, Missy, Jennifer, and Karen. I am very sorry for your loss. Marty spoke of you very fondly. She was a wonderful colleague at the Glover School. She was eager to help new teachers and always had an encouraging word. I appreciated her support when I began my teaching career. Marty was a good person who always put others first.