February 10, 1934 ~ July 10, 2024 (age 90)
Frank William Adams, 90, Stephenville, Texas, passed on July 10, 2024. He was predeceased by his parents Virgil and Wanda Adams and his beloved wife of 70 years, Barbara J. Adams. He is survived by his children Frank “Skipper” Adams (Vicki), Cynthia “Cindy” Adams and Martha Lawler (Charles) along with grandchildren Melisa Southworth (Bryan), Chelsea Briscoe (Justin), great-grandchildren Brynden and Emma Southworth, Aniston and Harper Briscoe, Austin and Skyler Lawler and his sister Francis Bohardt and family.
Born February 10, 1934, in Edison, Ohio his family moved to Tucson, Arizona when he was young. Frank graduated from Tucson High School and the University of Arizona where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Education. He met Barbara in high school, and they married on May 1, 1954. They moved to Douglas, Arizona in 1956 where he taught vocational agriculture at Douglas High School and served as Advisor to the Douglas Chapter of Future Farmers of America.
Frank was a pioneer in agricultural education and touched the lives of so many in high school, college and beyond. In 1964 he was the Arizona State FFA Ag teacher of the year. He won several state sweepstakes, trained many FFA state champion judging teams, and in 1966 won the national FFA Meat Judging Contest. Frank taught one of Arizona’s first female Ag ed students, who went on become the first female FFA state officer and the first woman to win Arizona FFA’s Star Farmer Award. She was one of many of Frank’s State Star Farmers. Five of his State Star Farmers went on to win the National Star Farmer award, the highest award given to a high school FFA student.
Frank was active in the community with several organizations like the 4-H and the county fair association. Along with advice and mentoring of 4-H participants for over 40 years he served on the board of the Cochise County Fair association for many years and annually helped with the fair organization and management.
Frank’s dedication to his profession and young people encouraged him to supervise student Ag teachers from various universities. He trained the first female Ag teacher in Arizona and mentored many others. Frank won the Gold Medal Ag Teacher Award honoring him for instructing so many student teachers who went on to teach.
In 1978, he transitioned to Cochise College as a professor and coach of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Men’s and Women’s Rodeo Teams. His rodeo program produced many Regional and National Championships. In nearly every one of his 18 years as coach, Cochise College qualified individuals or a full team to compete at the College National Finals Rodeo. He served as Director of the Grand Canyon Region NIRA from 1982-1996. In 2017, Frank was inducted into the Cochise College Hall of Fame.
Frank and Barbara raised a family of hundreds of young men and women over his years as a teacher. Many of those students called him on a regular basis, consulted and requested his expertise in agriculture and life, and travelled miles to visit with their teacher, mentor, father, and friend. He genuinely cared about his students and worked to give them the best opportunities to succeed in life. We are all grateful for the impact he made on our lives.
A worship service to celebrate Frank’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on August 9, 2024 at Erath County Cowboy Church, 4945 US-67, Stephenville, TX 76401.
In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the Frank and Barbara Adams Memorial Scholarship at https://www.cochise.edu/give, or by sending checks written to: Cochise College Foundation, 4190 W Highway 80, Douglas, AZ 85607.
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