HIGH POINT — Mr. Caleb Morris Adams, 83, of High Point, died Thursday, July 16, 2009, at the Hospice Home of High Point, N.C.
A celebration of his life will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 19, at First United Methodist Church, conducted by Reverend Dr. G. Howard Allred. Inurnment will be in the church columbarium. Following the services the family will receive friends in the Fellowship Hall of the church.
Mr. Adams was born December 26, 1925, in Starkville, Mississippi, a son of Carroll Sidney and Marguerete Morris Adams. He attended Starkville High School and Mississippi State University. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II aboard the vessel USS Chauvenet in the Pacific campaign. Adams started his own bus company, Adams Bus Lines, in 1946 in his hometown. Adams owned and operated A&V Buick dealership in Starkville, Mississippi, until 1959. He was both a radio announcer for the Starkville, Mississippi, High School Yellow Jacket football team and a volunteer fireman for the Starkville Fire department for 20 years. He served as chairman of the Oktibbeha County Chambers of Commerce. In 1964 Adams accepted a promotion with Perley A. Thomas Car Works and moved his family to High Point, N.C. Adams retired from Thomas Built Buses, Inc. in 1990 after 30 years with the company. He started as a sales representative, and also served as a regional and national sales manager, Vice President of Domestic Sales and Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs. In 1997 Adams was inducted into the National Association of Pupil Transportation (NAPT) Hall of Fame as an inaugural member. He was one of the school bus industry's outspoken crusaders for safety. He was a recognized authority on school bus design, operation and safety, and made frequent appearances on national and regional talk shows. Adams was keenly interested in politics and served as Republican chairman for High Point Township and Guilford County. He served as chairman of the Jail Ministry Board of Directors for many years as well as chairman of the board for United Way and Habitat for Humanity. Adams' service to Habitat included co-chairing a capital campaign for Habitat Woods, which provided 60 home sites for the agency. He joined First United Methodist Church in 1964 and served as a lay leader, member of the administrative board, finance chairman and honorarian for the Burris Fund, along with several committees. Adams loved to teach Sunday school and did so for many years.
Mr. Adams was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Carroll Sidney Adams.
On August 18, 1948, he married the love of his life for 60 years, the former Peggy Nell McMinn, who survives of the home; also surviving are children, Ed Adams and wife, Sherri Buie Adams, and Sid Adams and wife, Karen Kearns Adams, all of High Point; three grandchildren, Tyler, Ashley, and Mackenzie Adams and his special canine companion, Sassy.
The family would like to give special thanks to caregivers, Renee Hill and Kim Laws and a thank you to the staff at the Hospice Home of High Point for the care and kindness received.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to Hospice of the Piedmont, 1801 Westchester Drive, High Point, NC 27262, or to First United Methodist Church, 512 North Main Street, High Point, NC 27260.
Sechrest Funeral Service, 1301 East Lexington Avenue is handling the arrangements for Mr. Adams.
You are invited to share your fond thoughts and memories with the family at www.mem.com
