Ruth Ann Robertson Adams

1914 - 2011

1914 - 2011

Ruth Ann Robertson Adams, 97, of McLean, Va., passed away on Oct. 11, 2011.

Mrs. Adams was born in Chicago on July 25, 1914, to the late Harrison Victor Robertson and Mary Francis Mooney Robertson. She moved with her family to Los Angeles. As a young woman she worked for American Airlines as assistant to the West Coast Director of Sales. She met and married Charles Edgar Adams, a businessman in San Francisco, and was a housewife for some years.

She became director of the campus YMCA at San Francisco State University which administered a cultural and interracial program under a contract with the State Department. Here she met newly-arrived foreign students, at the pier or at the airport, who were on U.S. Government grants. Mrs. Adams assisted in orienting the students to the educational system, in American homes and in the community. During the six years Mrs. Adams operated this program, she also earned a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in education, concentrating on group dynamics as well as counseling and guidance.

In 1962 she was asked by the State Department to come to Washington as an educational and cultural affairs officer. Since this meant living in Washington, her husband commuted between coasts until he retired from business in 1967. Accompanied by her husband, Mrs. Adams accepted an appointment in New Delhi as assistant training officer. She later served in Afghanistan, Saigon, and for a second tour in India. Mr. Adams kept active during these overseas posts volunteering with the Peace Corps and assisting the Small Business Administration. When overseas, much of Mrs. Adams work was follow-up, to insure that the returning students were being utilized in the appropriate fields of development. She became fluent in six languages.

Returning to Washington, Mrs. Adams served as research and development officer for the Agency for International Development and assisting the State Department part-time at international conferences. In retirement, she enjoyed golf and bridge, and volunteered as a guide at both the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center. She has also administered a family memorial educational foundation which gives aid to inner-city grammar school children.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Adams moved to Vinson Hall, the independent living facility of the Navy Marine Coast Guard Residence Foundation. She continued her pastimes, gradually giving them up as required by failing eyesight, but still keeping a lively interest in the national and international news, read with the aid of assistive devices.

Mrs. Adams was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Charles Edgar Adams. Mrs. Adams is survived by her niece, Dorothy Robertson Sumner of Eugene, Ore.; her nephew, Michael A. Westray of Coeur D' Alene, Idaho; and her nephew, Peter B. Westray of Oxnard; as well as her friends at Vinson Hall.

A memorial service was held in the chapel at Vinson Hall, 6251 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, Va., at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to St. John the Beloved Catholic Church, 6420 Linway Terrace, Mclean, VA 22101. Please sign the guestbook at www.everlyfuneralhomes.com.