Brother Rusty Adams

Russell H. "Rusty" Adams, 97, of Elm Springs passed away Tuesday, March 17, 2009, in Fayetteville. He was born Sept. 1, 1911, in Chicago, the son of John Francis Adams and Mabel Marie Schott Adams Auer. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Henrietta Lois Weber Adams. He attended public school in Chicago and its suburbs and Chicago Musical College. He taught reed instruments at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, played in the Wurlitzer Concert Band of Chicago and was a member of Kappa Gamma Psi National Musical Fraternity. He worked at Pioneer Publishing Co. in Chicago as a typesetter and compositor.

Rusty was a life member of the Painters & Allied Trades International Union, past president of the Arkansas State Conference of Painters, vice president of the Central States Painters Organization. He was financial secretary and business representative of Local Union 14 of the Painters & Allied Trades and was a member of the northwest Arkansas Joint Labor Council. Rusty was instrumental in the formation of the apprenticeship program at the University of Arkansas Physical Plant, served as its first chairman and retired from the physical plant in 1976. He was a member of both the Democratic Central Committee and the Senior Democrats of Northwest Arkansas.

He is survived by a sister, Virginia Stowe of Fayetteville; three nieces, Joyce Stafford of Fayetteville, Dawn DeLong of Springdale and Austin, Texas, and Mary Jean Adams of Gloversville, S.C.; a nephew, James Stowe and his wife Regina of Fayetteville; and many grandnieces and nephews.

A private family memorial will be held at a later date.