Carroll Bowles Adams

Carroll Bowles Adams passed to his rest August 13, 2020 at Providence St Mary Hospital at the age of 104 (54 days short of his 105 ^th birthday).  He was born October 7, 1915 on an apple orchard west of Spokane, WA to Donald M and Tirzah E Bowles Adams.  His grandfather Bowles was a Quaker minister and both parents were of the Quaker faith, making Carroll a birthright Quaker.  When he was four the family bought a farm near Spokane, at what is now Airway Heights.  He learned to have a good work ethic at an early age.  Having eight siblings, six of whom were younger than he was, there was never a lack of work to be done.

He learned to fly an airplane, taking his first solo flight at age seventeen.  He only ceased to fly when he was ninety-eight, due to failing eyesight when he could no longer accurately read the gauges.

As a teen, he and his two older brothers, Jack and Donald, formed a trio which was always in demand to entertain at meeting, etc.  in the Spokane area.  After graduating from Lewis and Clark High School, he spent two years in the CCC’s (Civil Conservation Corps) on the west side of the state.

His first major job was with Bill Hatch Sporting Goods Co. as a salesman supplying sports equipment to schools, Colleges and organizations all across the Northwest.  In his travels to schools in Montana, on a stop at Miles City High School he met and later married a pretty young home economics teacher, Marjorie R. Petrie.

At the onset of WWII he tried to enlist in Navy but was refused because of asthma.  Then began a new career with Carter Oil Company, which was a provider of tires and batteries for the military.  Many entertaining incidents can be told about that episode of his life.  Laster on his sales work took them to Pasadena, California for several years, and then to Seattle Washington.  He didn’t care for the city life; he just wanted to get back to Eastern Washington.  When the opportunity arose to move to Walla Walla and be involved with the Ford Tractor business, he was happy to do so.  By 1953 he purchased Teague Tractor Company and it became Carroll Adams Tractor Company.  Another new life had begun and he never again left this Valley.

He and Margie raised three children, all of whom survive him: Robert Adams of Walla Walla, Carolyn Adams Krudwig Adams (David) of Murrysville, PA and Richard Adams (Sheri) of Gig Harbor, Washington.  His wife of nearly eleven years, Helen Roloff Adams also survives him as well as one brother Gordon Adams (Suzanne) of Walla Walla, Eight grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, numerous step-children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as nieces and nephews too numerous to mention.  Carroll was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers: Jack, Donald, Robert, and Howard and three sisters: Rosamond Adams Allen, Doris Adams Woodward, and Tirzah Adams Robinson, wife Marjorie Petrie Adams and Roberta Broom Adams.

He was a past president of Walla Walla Country Club, Rotary and Northwest Hardware and Implement Company.  He was a board member of YWCA, long standing member of many organizations including: Masonic Lodge, Walla Walla Elks, and Shriners.  He helped re-activate the local Civil Air Patrol, was very active in FFA having received various awards from them and was always a major presence during the Walla Walla Fair.

In view of the Covid restrictions there will be a family service on Thursday August 20, 2020 at 10:00 AM at Herring Groseclose Funeral Home.  A celebration of Carroll’s life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the YWCA through Herring Groseclose Funeral Home, 315 W. Alder St.  Walla Walla, WA 99362.