Rita Joy Adams

Rita Joy Adams August 9, 1938 - April 21, 2007 Rita Adams, 68, of Waco, passed away Saturday, April 21, 2007. Services will be 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Prairie Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Garden Room at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey. Rita Joy Adams was born August 9, 1938, in Waco, Texas. She was the daughter of Bill and Geraldine Dyer of Prairie Hill, Texas. She graduated from Prairie Hill High School in 1955 and enrolled at Baylor University that fall. In the spring of 1956, Rita developed bone cancer and was admitted to M.D. Anderson hospital in Houston where the treatment plan required the amputation of her left leg. Determined not to be sidelined by her circumstances, Rita approached her recovery and rehabilitation with the tenacity and resolve that would define her life. Following her recuperation, she started working at the Texas Highway Department District Office in Waco. In 1958, she married her high school sweetheart Ralph Adams and they had three children. She re-entered the workforce when the youngest child was in high school and retired from American Vault Corporation in 2002 after more than 15 years of service. Subsequently she worked part-time for the Waco Art Center and S.C.O.R.E. She was a longtime member of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church and was actively involved in church activities. She was the recipient of the first “Mother of the Year” award given by the church. She and Ralph are Benefactors of the Waco Symphony. Rita enjoyed traveling and challenges, taking great pride in having learned to snow ski as an amputee. Fiercely independent, she always said the only two things she physically could not do were drive a stick-shift car and ride an escalator. Rita is preceded in death by her father Bill Dyer. She is survived by her husband, Ralph Adams; mother, Geraldine Dyer; children, Karen Miller and son-in-law, Calvin, Darrell Adams and daughter-in-law, Pam, and Elaine Powell and son-in-law, Doug. She loved and delighted in her six grandchildren: Andrew and Evan Miller, Morgan and Mason Adams, and Aaron and Sarah Powell. Even though all the grandchildren lived outside of Waco, “Nonny” went to great lengths to attend all the birthdays, sports contests and other life events that they participated in. Teresa Arias has been a special blessing to Rita and Ralph as a gracious, loving caregiver and dear friend of the family. Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice. The family invites you to leave a memory or message in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com.