James Layfette Adams, Jr.

James was born April 21, 1928 to James and Sara Adams in Whitmire, South Carolina.  He was their third child, and had two sister and one brother.

He grew up swimming in any water he could find, but his two favorite hobbies were hunting and fishing.  When he was old enough he went to work in the cotton mill in Whitmire. I don't think he liked it very much because he joined the Navy when he was seventeen.  While in the Navy he traveled all over the world mostly on submarines. When he came to Seattle he met his wife June and they married in December 1947.  When he got out of the Navy, they lived in Seattle and he went to work for General Electric on Harbor Island and continued his education in refrigeration and air conditioning repair.  Later in life he went to work for Cam Industries in Kent, Washington where he retired in 1979.

James had four children, two girls and 2 boys and lived in Seattle with June and children for thirty years. He built a cabin on Lake Summit in the early fifties so he and friends could go fishing and hunting. As the years passed and the kids got older he needed a bigger place at the lake, so he added on in the late sixties early seventies. He also enjoyed bowling and had a two hundred average, and bowled weekly on a league.

Every year he went home to South Carolina to see his family.  I think he missed them a lot.  Sometimes he took my brother with him.

James divorced June in 1977 and married two more times in his lifetime, neither one of them was a happy marriage.  

James has 3 grandchildren and one great grandchild, all of whom he adored.

The last fourteen years were spent in Ivy House, an Adult Family Home ran by Amy Thomas who took very good care of him until his passing.