Marie L. Adams

ADAMS, Marie L.-- Our loving mother, sister and friend passed away peacefully in her sleep early Tuesday morning, May seventh, after thirteen years of struggling valiantly with lymphoma. Marie was born January 23rd, 1948 in the Santa Clara Valley of California to Will and Hazel Barnes Lester. The Barnes and Lester families have a long heritage of farming both in Connecticut and California. With her four brothers, Marie worked and played in the midst of apricot, prune and walnut trees on their family orchard. From these early childhood experiences, she developed her great love and appreciation of the land, her family, and the value of hard work. Marie attended Santa Clara High School and graduated in 1966, after which she studied Home Economics at the University of California, Davis and later graduated from San Jose State University. During her time at Davis, she fell in love with and married Thomas Adams, also of California. She and Tom soon moved to Boise, Idaho with the vision of raising a family on a small farm in the midst of mountains and rivers. Marie and her family spent many wonderful hours working in their garden, with their animals, sharing meals with family friends, hiking and camping in the high desert and mountains surrounding Boise.
Marie dedicated her life to her family and community, volunteering countless hours in the Boise Schools and in many organizations, including PEO, Cub Scouts, Brownies, Planned Parenthood of Idaho, Boise Home Economists, Idaho Botanical Garden, Assistance League of Boise, Hulls Gulch Nature Preserve Trust, the First Congregational United Church of Christ and Pilgrim Cove Church Camp.
We will so deeply miss Marie's joy and enthusiasm for life, her honesty, tremendous generosity, compassion, and love. Marie was preceded in death by her husband Tom Adams and is survived by her two children, Laurie and Jeff Adams, four brothers, Stan, Bill, George and Russ Lester, sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces, many cousins, aunts and uncles.
A memorial service will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 2201 Woodlawn Avenue, Boise. No floral gifts please, the family suggests donations to the First Congregational United Church of Christ, the Tom and Marie Adams Memorial Fund at Boise YMCA, Nature Conservancy of Idaho, 1109 Main St., St. 333, 83703.