Mrs. Mavis Adams

Mavis Adams passed away on July 7, 2021. The youngest of the ten children of Norman and Clara McDonald, she was born in Bismarck, North Dakota on May 30, 1928, Memorial Day. She attended St. Mary School in Bismarck, graduating in 1946. She worked as a switchboard operator for several years before marriage and ever after never forgot a number. She met Leland C. (Lee) Adams in Bismarck and they were married on October 22, 1953. The newlyweds started their life together in the French Quarter of New Orleans, moving around the country as Lee’s career progressed, until they finally moved to Lake Forest, Illinois. They divided their time between Lake Forest and Orange Beach, Alabama after Lee’s retirement. Lee passed away in 1998 and Mavis continued to enjoy summers in Lake Forest and winters in Alabama. A lifelong Catholic, she attended Daily Mass and was active in church activities wherever she lived. She also supported quite a number of charities. She was a member of the Southeastern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre and was pleased to be able to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land as well as some other holy sites. She loved to read, play bridge, watch Jeopardy, visit the casino, travel, and spend time with her family. She travelled to many places on four continents and frequently got the urge to “go somewhere”. What she loved most of all was singing, at church, at school, at a piano bar or just around the house. She knew every word to every song until the Rock era. As a young woman she was a member of the Bismarck Light Opera Company. Mavis and Lee had three daughters, Gwen, Donna and Diane. She will be very much missed by her daughters, Diane’s husband Sean McCormick, grandchildren Nicholas (Caroline) McCormick, Becca (Chris) Smith, Shalan Ryan (Nicholas Wilson), and Taylor Camelio. She was great grandma to Peyton, Grayson, Jackson, Davis and Camelio. She was preceded in death by her parents, five brothers, four sisters, three nieces, two nephews and Donna’s partner Cheryl Camelio, all of whom we know were there to welcome her. In lieu of flowers please donate to the charity of your choice. Our mom was a strong, loving caring person and she touched the lives of everyone she knew. Her faith was strong and she was at peace. There was one constant refrain that she would want you to know. “I’M OKAY” And she would be toasting you all with a glass of Chardonnay

Mrs. Mavis Adams

May 30, 1928 - July 7, 2021