Darius M. Adams

Darius M. Adams

July 5, 1944 - December 7, 2023

Our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, Darius Adams, died on Thursday December 7 at age 79 after a struggle with cancer. He was our rock - a man who, just by being who he was, gave us strength and stability. We will miss him dearly.

He is survived by his spouse, Claire Montgomery, his two sons, Roy Adams and Joe Montgomery, their spouses, Paige Seegan and Ariel Montgomery, and his grandchildren, Pearl Adams and Darius Montgomery (and one more granddaughter on the way!).

Darius loved thinking and caring about forests, what they give us, and the people who depend on them. Darius was born in Los Angeles and grew up in San Bernadino in California. He discovered a love for forests as a Boy Scout and eventually an Eagle Scout. He studied forestry at Humboldt University, supporting himself by fighting forest wildfires for California Department of Forestry.

He quickly found that he loved analyzing problems and, therefore, pursued graduate studies in forest economics at Yale and UC Berkeley and served on the forestry faculties at Universities of Wisconsin, Washington, and Montana and here at Oregon State University.

He taught innumerable forestry students and mentored young forest economists all over the world as they grew in their careers, many of whom became lifelong friends. These included his wife, Claire, for whom he relinquished tenure briefly so that she could start her academic career and they could work together as a team. She is eternally grateful for how he supported and honored her in her work. The week he received his cancer diagnosis, he also received notice that his lifetime of research would be honored with the highest award in the field of forestry - the Marcus Wallenberg Prize, informally known as the "Nobel Prize for Forestry". Darius loved being a father to his sons, Roy and Joe. He taught them, by example, how to be a strong and caring man of principle. He was immensely proud of the men they have become and he was profoundly sad that he couldn't be here longer to watch them grow even more. But he was so very happy to see them join their lives with wonderful women and become fathers to children of their own. They are both grateful for the values he modeled and for instilling a passion for the outdoors. Our favorite memories are the times we shared backpacking, x-c skiing and snowshoeing, sailing, and just sitting quietly looking at and listening to the natural world around us - and playing Uno! We laughed at his funny nicknames for the people close to him (Claire was "the mooms"; Roy was "the "ogie Roy"; and Joe was "the Joe Mo"). We miss him. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 pm, Sunday, January 28 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis. Gifts in Darius' memory to support students of forest economics can be made to the Darius Adams and Claire Montgomery Fund through the OSU Foundation, 4238 SW Research Way, Corvallis, OR 97333. Donations also can be made online at fororegonstate.org. Please note "in memory of Darius Adams" on the memo line or in the online giving form.