Edward Eugene Adams

Edward Eugene Adams

1960 – 2025

Ed Adams passed away on September 5, 2025, in Liverpool, England, after a life spent in service to his family, church, and his profession. He was always grateful for the many blessings in his life.

Ed was born on October 14, 1960, to H. Gayrald Adams and Wavalene Holsinger in Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio. He was the oldest of three boys. He was raised in Flint and Holly, Michigan.

The most formative event of his childhood occurred when his parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a youth, his parents would drift in and out of church activity, and his friends would be a positive influence in his life. He served as a Seminary President and as a Youth Sunday School teacher while in his youth.

His growing-up years were both challenging and rewarding. His family didn’t have much, and he spent many years of his youth working. He grew up delivering newspapers. He took the initiative to expand the number of customers and learned how to talk to people. He read the newspaper as he walked on his route, which gave him a love of news and current events that continued throughout his life. In the summers, he worked on his grandparents’ farms, which gave him a taste of good hard work and a deep abiding love for his grandparents.

Growing up in a place where the majority of people worked in automobile factories, he had no immediate plans to attend college. Eventually, he attended Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) in Rexburg, Idaho. It was one of the most transformative events in his life. He immersed himself in activities, and he was elected to a student council vice-president position. He also served as a counselor in his student ward bishopric.

His greatest accomplishment at Ricks was meeting and marrying his best friend, Gwen White. They were married on December 11, 1981. After they both graduated with their associate degrees, they moved to Mesa, Arizona, with all their earthly belongings piled into their car.

Ed worked full-time managing a shoe store and plodded along part-time, attending Arizona State University and then completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He managed a magazine publishing company in Arizona for a few years. During these years, Ed and Gwen adopted their son, Blaine.

The next move took them to Utah, where Gwen worked at BYU as a resident hall head resident. Ed assisted Gwen, sold advertising for a magazine, and worked as a research assistant all at the same time while working toward completion of a Master’s Degree in Communications from BYU in 1991. It was at BYU that child number two, Krista, came along.

They moved and attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Attending OU was the highlight of Ed’s academic experience. He presented many papers at conferences and finished a Ph.D. in 1993. While at Ohio University, their third child, Kylie, was born.

Ed accepted a faculty position at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. It was during their years in San Angelo that Dallin and Preston were born. Their home was only a few blocks from campus, allowing Ed to walk to his campus office and to come home on occasion to have lunch with the kids. In the summertime, he would watch the kids while Gwen steadily worked toward her degree in Psychology.

In 1999, he accepted a position in the Department of Communications at Brigham Young University.

Ed loved university teaching and working with students. He had a passion for historical research. He enjoyed the pursuit of discovery and learning. Ed published over 50 articles on the history of the media. He enjoyed all aspects of history and stored up all kinds of trivial historical facts and minutiae.

At BYU, his teaching took a backseat as he received assignments to serve in university leadership positions. Ed served as an associate chair, department chair, and director of the School of Communications. He then served as an associate dean and dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Twenty-four of his almost 30 years at BYU were spent serving in academic leadership positions. He didn’t set out to be an administrator, but he embraced the opportunities. He enjoyed the camaraderie and fellowship of serving with associates as they grappled with difficult and challenging issues.

Initiatives and projects became his driving force at BYU. Among those were the creation of innovative labs in the School of Communications, renovation of the Brimhall Building, school status for the School of Communications, and the design and construction of a new Music Building, Arts Building, and the West Campus Office Building. He was known for his “walkabouts” and loved interacting with faculty, staff and students. Ed and Gwen joined students in New York City, several places in Europe, and in China. Those opportunities provided an international experience and lasting memories for them.

Ed loved his work at BYU. He liked making progress on tasks and assignments. He was never good at details. He was a big-picture thinker who made lists. He was a planner, and in many ways, he was a pre-planner and a contingency planner. He was a decision-maker and progressive in implementing change. Checking items off his worklist and cleaning out his email in-box were his daily pursuits.

His five children, Blaine, Krista, Kylie, Dallin, and Preston, provided vibrancy, focus, and life to Ed and Gwen’s growing family. Two-to-three week family vacations every summer across America often involved visiting historical sites. Multiple trips to Washington, D.C., and New York City were among the many memorable places the family visited. Playing Legos with kids and grandkids were some of Ed’s favorite activities. As kids grew up, he would play a video game or basketball with them, and then he would still be engaged in the activity long after the kids stopped playing.

He liked bike riding, mowing the lawn, and sitting by Gwen in the evenings as she worked on some handicraft. He was a news junkie, and he loved scanning the newspaper or news websites every day. If he had a hobby, it was dabbling in researching and documenting family history.

He loved serving Church callings because it gave him the opportunity to serve and help others. He served in many church leadership callings as an Elders Quorum President, Young Men’s President, High Priest Group Leader, and as a Stake High Councilor. He served twice as a Bishop. First in the San Angelo, Texas, 1st Ward (1994-1999) and then in the Springville, Utah Hobble Creek 7th Ward (2014-2020). He served many times as a Gospel Doctrine Teacher.

He loved playing games with his grandchildren. They loved playing active games with him: “Get Pirate off the Ship,” “Foot Monster,” and “The Sock Game,” which were all games he created with them. He told “Grandpa Joseph” stories, a character he made up who had bad hearing. He gathered grandchildren around him as he read stories from books.

Ed and Gwen enjoyed travelling and learning. They learn about the history of the area they visited and the connections with people. They loved living in Springville. Seeing friends and neighbors at the Farmer’s Market, Art City Days, at the Clyde Rec Center, or at Reams Grocery Store was an enjoyable reward of being part of a community.

Ed completed his ten-year term as Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University in June and shortly began a leave researching in England. While there, he enjoyed learning about the history of the area and spending time with his wife, Gwen.

Ed is preceded in death by his parents, H. Gayrald Adams and Wavalene Holsinger. He is survived by his wife, Gwen (White) Adams. His children Blaine (Carrie) Adams, Krista (Ben) Cox, Kylie (Mike) Bolen, Dallin (Holly) Adams, Preston (Emilee) Adams, brothers Andy Adams and David Adams and 13 grandchildren.

An evening viewing for family and friends will be held on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the LDS Chapel located at 495 South Canyon Road, Springville, Utah. A morning viewing for family and friends will be held the next day, Wednesday, September 24, 2025, from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. at the same church building. The funeral service will also be held on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, starting at 11:00 a.m. at the same church building. Interment will be at the Springville Evergreen Cemetery.

Livestream of services can be viewed at: https://youtube.com/live/-1dBdG4ja78

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.