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Robert "Bob" Adams, July 4, 1939 - June 25, 2023

Newspaper Obituary | Pirate Version | Ballad Lyrics | Video Remembrance | Making a Ballad | The Ballad of Bob

Because everything sounds more fun when spoken like a pirate.

Arr, listen up, ye scurvy dogs! Robert "Bob" James Adams be takin' his final breath on June 25, 2023, at Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, NC, from the cursed complications o' pneumonia. Bob, a true swashbuckler, be born on the Fourth o' July in Colorado Springs, CO, to Alan James Adams and Margaret Virginia Adams, makin' him a second-generation Colorado native. He be the second o' their four scallywags, with sisters Esther Irene Adams and Margaret Ann Lyman, followed by brother John Alan Adams.

Bob attended Garfield Grade School, North Jr. High, and set sail from Colorado Springs High School in 1957, two years before they changed its name to William J. Palmer High School. Aye, after graduation, Bob enlisted in the US Navy and was shipped off to Honolulu, HI for a couple o' years where he toiled at the Fleet Post Office. He later served aboard the grand aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CV-19), gatherin' tales and amusin' yarns that he'd forever share with his young 'uns (but beware the "helicopter story," me hearties).

Once he'd bid farewell to the Navy, Bob returned to Colorado Springs to embark on a career in real estate, raisin' houses and eventually workin' at Stewart Title and Land Title Co. It be at this point that Bob, always fond o' swift ships on wheels, got his hands on his prized possession, a 1962 Corvette. Bob would often sail his 'vette to the Continental Divide Raceway near Castle Rock CO, mostly as a spectator but sometimes as a racer, seekin' adventure. He'd also voyage in his 'vette to Greeley CO, where his sister Ann studied at Colorado State College. 'Twas there that he met Ann's matey, Angelina "Angie" Marie Chimenti.

In 1963, Bob and Angie tied the knot in Albuquerque, NM. They returned to Colorado Springs, where they first resided in a wee garage apartment downtown afore movin' into a brand spankin' new home in the Vista Grande subdivision. Later on, they sailed back to the historic North End to raise a brood a mere mile from Bob's own birthplace. They had two lads, Robert Mark Adams and Joseph Trent Adams. Both young lads followed in their old man's footsteps, attendin' North Jr. and graduatin' from the Colorado Springs School afore venturin' beyond Colorado to seek their own fortunes. Bob and Angie went their separate ways in 1994, partin' ways like ships in the night.

Bob always had a taste for the Southwest, makin' frequent voyages to New Mexico, spendin' many moons in Taos and Santa Fe (where he held a season ticket to the Sante Fe Opera). He also had an eternal love for flyfishin', and ye'd often find Bob craftin' his own flies or restin' by the peaceful riverbanks, tryin' to use (yet often losin') those same flies.

In 1996, Bob found himself wedded to the artist Laurie Yeates in Colorado Springs. Bob opened his heart to Laurie's scallywags from previous marriages, Brittany Morgan Keeler and Taylor James W. Yeates, and he felt blessed to be part o' an extended family. They settled in various parts, includin' the North End, downtown Colorado Springs, and Black Forest, afore Bob and Laurie set sail to Buckhead, GA to live on the banks o an inland sea.

Six years gone by, Bob and Laurie pulled up anchor to set it again in Hendersonville to be near Laurie's kinfolk in Asheville, NC. Whilst moored in Hendersonville, Bob spent his retired days craftin' frames for Laurie's masterpieces and conjurin' up fantastical fairy gardens to stash in the backyard for Brittany's wee ones and her scurvy matey, Kyle. He forever busied himself in his workshop below deck, tweakin' and tinkerin', tyin' flies and expandin' his fleet o' WWII model planes, addin' fine details with his newfound mastery of the airbrush.

Bob be survived by his beloved wife, two brethren, two sons, two step-children, and a crew o' 7 grandchildren. Alas, his sister Esther, who took her final plunge earlier this year, be waitin' for him in Davy Jones' Locker.