Andrew Adams

Andrew J. ADAMS was born, with his twin brother Arthur, on 8 May 1944 in Aurora, Illinois, and he lived his entire life in his native state, but for his graduate years at Indiana University, where he received an M.A. and in 1975 a Ph.D. with a dissertation, “The Nature of Martial’s Epigrams.” He grew up in Mooseheart, where his father was a high-school principal, and then moved to Batavia. He graduated from Monmouth College where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow with a double major in Latin and Russian. In 1970 he was appointed to the faculty at North Central College in Naperville where he taught courses in introductory Latin, ancient history, and classical mythology, chaired the foreign language department, created an advisement center, and for 16 years was a residence hall director. He was devoted to Latin students, some of whom he guided (with his colleagues Bill and Herbie Naumann) around ancient sites in Italy in 1975, his editing of an elementary Latin textbook, and his yearly contribution of two examinations to the Illinois Classical Conference for the Illinois State High school Latin Tournament. His board game Classical Trivia sold more than 1200 copies. In 1991 he was promoted to full professor and he retired after 34 years of service in 2004, when he was honored with the college’s Sesquicentennial medal. His passionate interest in the life of Illinois’ favorite son, Abraham Lincoln, led to his discovery in 2003 of a previously unknown census document regarding the residence of Lincoln’s stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston. Adams died after stepping in front of a train blocks from his home in Naperville on 30 September 2011.

— Ward Briggs

Additional Obituary: http://camws.org/News/files/obits/Adams obit.doc