Vern Adams remembered for steadfast patience, quietly inspiring lives

Vern Adams was a soft-spoken man who quietly enriched and inspired the lives of others through his steadfast patience and relentless optimism — even while grappling with a life-threatening illness, his family members said Sunday.

“He was just unwavering in good spirits,” said his wife of 41 years, Debra Erdley Adams, a Tribune-Review reporter. “And he was always looking out for the welfare of others.”

Vernon G. Adams, of Greensburg — a retired real estate agent, church leader and devoted husband, brother and grandfather — died at home Friday following a three-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 65.

“He had a very quiet, calm, but strong presence,” said his son, Joshua Adams, 36, recalling his father's passion for hard work and honesty. “He wanted us to learn from our mistakes while being supportive. In almost 37 years, I never saw him get angry.”

Born Sept. 26, 1952, to the late Vernon G. and Annabelle Helm Adams, Vern Adams was a lifelong Lutheran and member of St. Matthias Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greensburg. He taught catechism and volunteered as a youth minister at Salem Lutheran Church in Delmont prior to the family's move to Greensburg a few years ago.

A father of two and grandfather to five, Vern Adams strived to demonstrate the importance of family, faith and forgiveness, said his son, the Rev. Jonathan Adams, 28, of Davidsville in Somerset County.

“I can't count how many times (my brother) Josh or I did foolish things in high school that he didn't blink an eye about forgiving us for, as well as the people that he dealt with in business,” Jonathan said. “He valued other people for their own intrinsic worth.”

Mr. Adams was an accountant for several small and mid-sized regional businesses before getting into real estate out of a love for houses, architecture and working with first-time homebuyers.

“He really enjoyed some of the features of some of the older houses around the area and helping families and young couples — people that weren't necessarily the most well off — find something that was affordable for them,” Joshua Adams said.

Jonathan Adams recalled the time his father rented out a space in a building he owned to a man in his 20s who had financial difficulties while trying to start a business.

“He was struggling to really pull things together, and I know that my dad was just very gracious in terms of, ‘Well, we can wait a little bit for your rent or make arrangements,' ” Jonathan said.

When Jonathan was around 13 years old, he convinced his dad to join him in his newfound hobby of geocaching, or treasure-hunting using GPS coordinates. The pair would trek across random spots in Western Pennsylvania on the expeditions, from state parks to an abandoned coal mine near Connellsville.

“He bought a beat-up old Jeep Cherokee pretty much for the express purpose of taking me and our dog out so we could go hiking and geocaching,” Jonathan said. “He very much role-modeled the importance of family. If there was something that Josh or I was interested in and he saw it as something that he could do with us, he was jumping in with both feet, gung-ho.”

He marveled at his dad's level of patience — a trait he tried to pass on to his kids throughout their childhood.

Jonathan recalled the time, for instance, when he was learning to drive and a car cut him off in traffic.

“My hands started sliding toward the center of the steering wheel to blow the horn, and he (Vern Adams) was very quick to tell me that you use your car horn if its going to prevent someone from hitting you, don't just honk at someone out of frustration, that doesn't accomplish anything,” Jonathan said.

“And I think that's a lot of the way he dealt with ALS,” he said. “It's not that he didn't get frustrated, but he really tried very hard to avoid taking his frustration out on anyone.”

Mr. Adams retired from real estate in 2015, the same year he was diagnosed with ALS, a typically fatal condition affecting the nerves and muscles also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The average life expectancy of a person with ALS is two to five years from the time of diagnosis, the ALS Association reports.

Before the neurodegenerative disease took hold, Mr. Adams relished going on outdoor adventures such as hiking, skiing and biking everywhere from California's wine country to the Canadian Rockies to Italy and around Lake Champlain.

“That was my dancing partner, my going-skiing partner, my biking partner,” Erdley Adams said.

More recently, after losing his ability to walk and drive, he had taken up a keen interest in documentaries and became a devoted Pirates fan.

During his frequent visits with his granddaughters, he'd almost always be sure to carry a digital camera around his neck to capture precious moments.

“If he didn't have his nice camera, he'd be pulling out his phone constantly and if one of the granddaughter's sat on my mom's lap, you would see him just sort of quietly pulling out his phone and taking a picture,” Jonathan said.

Mr. Adams took immense pride in his children and grandchildren and was sure to let them know, Erdley Adams said.

“Like my 5-year-old granddaughter said,” Erdley Adams recounted, “now Grandpa is with Jesus in heaven and he doesn't hurt any more.”

In addition to his wife and two sons, Mr. Adams is survived by granddaughters, Allison, Emma, Olivia, Eleanor and Annabelle; and two brothers, David Adams (Pamela) and Allen Adams (Susie), both of Kittanning.

Family and friends are invited to a gathering starting at 3 p.m. Saturday followed by a 4 p.m. memorial service at Kepple-Graft Funeral Home in Greensburg.

Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8514, nlindstrom@tribweb.com or via Twitter @NewsNatasha.