Joseph F. H. Adams

Joseph F. H. Adams, 83, of Wilmington, NC, died Sunday, April 13, 2025, at Lower Cape Fear Life Care.

He was born on August 28, 1941, the son of the late Joseph Adams Jr. and Agnes Rodgers Adams.

Joseph graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a BSME and was commissioned in the US Army as a 2nd Lieutenant and married Beverly Bednarz. After his military service Joseph began his career in engineering. Much of that career was either in Horseheads, NY, or Wilmington, NC, where Joseph held many positions including Manufacturing Engineer for Aero Space Industrial and as a supervisor of design for High Explosives Equipment. He later joined Corning, Inc and held positions as Supervisor of Product Engineering in the major appliances division, Supervisor of Equipment Engineering in main plant and General Foreman of Production of hot glass, Project Engineer in Decoration Technology and ultimately moving to optical fiber engineering as a Senior Project Engineer. A return to Hot Glass Technologies led to work in Poland, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, China, Lithuania, and Russia. Next Joseph was tapped by Corning to serve as Project Director to build an entire plant in Mexico and later another in Kota, India.

Upon retiring in 2001, he and Bev moved permanently from their home in Horseheads to the one in Wilmington where they enjoyed the beach, dining, and shopping, in addition to boating and fishing as the weather permitted.

Surviving is his beloved wife of 61 years, Beverly (Bednarz) Adams of Wilmington, NC; his daughter Wendy Adams of Boston, MA; son, Todd (Kari) Adams of Horseheads, NY; grandchildren, Benjamin Adams and Zachary Adams, both of Charlotte, NC; Madison Adams of Horseheads, NY; brothers-in-law, Stanley Droy of Hemet, CA and Stanley Bednarz of Raleigh, NC; niece, Donna (Gerald) Kelly of Carson, CA; cousins, Kris (Steve) Koretz of Melbourne, FL and Rick (Nancy) Kosakonski of E. Longmeadow, MA; and a nephew, John (Terri) Bednarz of Raleigh, NC.

In addition to his parents, Joseph was preceded in death by father-in-law and mother-in-law, Stanley, and Marion Bednarz; a brother, Cliff (Mae) Adams; sister, Matilda Droy; two sisters-in-law, Bernadine Corbett, and Barbara Bednarz; and a nephew, Jeff Bednarz.

A memorial service will be held 9:00 am Friday, May 16, 2025, at Andrews Mortuary Market Street Chapel. A committal service with military honors will follow at 2:00 pm in Florence National Cemetery, Florence, SC.