DATE: Thursday, November 6, 1997            TAG: 9711060380

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   51 lines

KATHLEEN W. ADAMS

Kathleen Watson Adams, a long-standing community leader and friend to many, died Tuesday Nov. 4, 1997, in her home. She was 80 years old.

Katie, as she was affectionately known to her friends, was born in 1917 in Minneapolis, Minn., the daughter of Fred and Leone Watson. Her father was a prominent civic leader and commercial contractor in the Twin cities.

Katie Adams was an alumna of the University of Minnesota where she graduated with honors in 1938 and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. She married Arthur H. Adams in 1939 and embarked on a long and supportive career, spanning 36 years, as the wife of this distinguished Marine Corps major general. During these years, Katie lived in numerous parts of the world, including Paris, France, Seoul, Korea, and Honolulu, Hawaii. In each posting with her husband, she distinguished herself as a leader in Marine Corps family and community activities.

Katie and Art retired from the Marine Corps in 1975 and established their permanent home in Norfolk. Katie was exceptionally generous with her time and talents in support of numerous activities in this community. Among them, she was a board member of the Virginia Opera, the Norfolk Forum, and the Hampton Roads Historical Naval Museum Foundation as well as a member of the Royster Circle of the Hospital of The King's Daughters and a supporter of the Chrysler Museum.

Katie devoted many years to child care and family support causes and led many programs to develop child care facilities at the Norfolk Naval Base. She was also a board member of the Children's Harbor in Norfolk. Katie will be remembered by her friends and the many who benefited from her generosity for her boundless energy, optimism and enthusiasm and most of all, for the ``joie de vivre'' she infused in all of her activities.

Katie is survived by her husband of 58 years, Retired U.S.M.C. Major General Arthur H. Adams; four children, Retired U.S.N. Captain Frederick Adams, and his wife, Reeney, Kathleen Baczko, and her husband, Joseph, Melissa Tully, and her husband, Neal, Judith Halter and her husband, David; and 13 grandchildren, Melissa, Michele and Douglas Adams, Laura, Stephen and David Baczko, Kathleen, Elizabeth and George Tully, Claire, Hillary, Benjamin and Christopher Halter.

A funeral Mass will be held Friday at 2 p.m. in Our Lady of Victory Chapel at the Naval Base, Norfolk. Burial will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Arlington National Cemetery.

Friends will be received at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts. Norfolk, today from 5 to 7 p.m. The family has requested that those who wish may make a donation in Katie's memory to any of the above organizations or to a charity of their choice. ILLUSTRATION: Photo KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY

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