Gene Arlen Adams

Gene Arlen Adams of Walla Walla passed away August 20, 2022, in his apartment at Wheatland Village. He was 91.

Gene was an active member of the Walla Walla community. He served as an admissions officer, then financial aid director at Whitman College, from which he retired in 1995. He was a co-founder of the Friends of the Children of Walla Walla. After retiring, he volunteered with a first-grade class at Blue Ridge Elementary and was honored to be named the Art Reiger Volunteer of the Year by the Walla Walla Public Schools.

He was active with the Walla Walla Exchange Club, serving as president and selling a whole lot of ducks. He was also active with the Walla Walla Presbyterian Church, serving as an elder from 2015-2017. Gene was an active member of what he called the “Clarette’s Coffee Clowns,” a group of men who drank coffee together at Clarette’s every day for decades.

Gene was born to Dave and Bea Adams on September 11, 1930, in Olympia, Washington. His family moved to Yakima in 1945, and Gene graduated from North Yakima High School in 1948. He attended Whitman College, where he met his wife of 61 years, Betty. They were married on September 17, 1953, shortly after his graduation from Whitman, where he earned a degree in physical education. He went on to earn a master’s degree in education from Eastern Washington College of Education.

Gene served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955, and he and Betty were stationed in Bampton, Oxfordshire, England, for a year. Upon their return from England, Gene and Betty lived in Odessa, Washington, then Seattle, while Gene worked in public schools. They made Walla Walla their permanent home in 1968.

Gene, a huge sports fan, was an avid supporter of the Whitman College Men’s Basketball team, which gave him immeasurable pleasure. He could be seen at all their games (as well as practices!) when Eric Bridgeland coached the team to great success. He was also a big supporter of prior teams. He played basketball for Whitman in the 1950s.

Gene is survived by his son, Scott Adams of Walla Walla; son and daughter-in-law Larry and Margaret Adams of Brisbane, Australia; and daughter Janine Adams and son-in-law Barry Marcus of St. Louis, Missouri. He is also survived by his two grandchildren, Miranda Adams of Peregian Beach, Australia, and Taylor Adams of Brisbane, and his sister, Gwen Gerow, of Walla Walla. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty, who died in 2015.

His life will be celebrated on Thursday, September 1, 2022. The family interment will be followed by a memorial service at 2:30 pm at Walla Walla Presbyterian Church, 235 South First Avenue. A reception will follow in the church Fellowship Hall.

In lieu of flowers, Gene requested memorial contributions may be made to the Walla Walla Presbyterian Church or Friends of Children of Walla Walla through the Herring Groseclose Funeral Home, 315 West Alder Street, Walla Walla, 99362.