Edward L. Adams III

It is with great sadness that the family of Edward L. Adams III announces his death. Services will be held at 3:00PM on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, N.D., with Rev. John Thoraldson officiating. Burial will be at Fairview Cemetery, Bismarck. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at Parkway Funeral Service. Ed was born August 4 1930 at Bismarck, ND to Edward L. Adams II and Jordis Rafteseth Adams. Edward L. Adams II died in July of 1939 and Jordis in May of 1989. Ed was raised and educated in Bismarck, ND graduating from Bismarck High in 1948. Ed attended Bismarck State College taking undergraduate courses and graduated from North Dakota State University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelors Degree in Architectual Engineering. After he was honorably discharged from the United States Army, Ed worked with the Ritterbush Architectural Firm in Bismarck. Ed was united in marriage to Shara Melarvie in April of 1957. Ed and Shara ventured to Des Moines Iowa for a very short period and in 1962 moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota. In Grand Forks Ed was a partner in the architectural firm of Wells, Denbrook and Adams. Ed was active in the community of Grand Forks and was a strong supporter of the University of North Dakota. Ed was very involved in the upbringing of his children; including following their sporting careers & activities, and those of his grandchildren. Ed was a past president and member of Sertoma as well as being a past president of the American Institute of Architects for a region that included the tri-state area of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. Ed left Grand Forks in 1980 and went to work for Henry J Kaiser Engineering and worked at the coal gasification plant in Beulah, ND, for 7 yrs. In 1987 Ed transferred with Kaiser Engineering to the National Nuclatory Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Ed was very fond of the New Mexico area and the wide variety of people he met in his travels while working for Kaiser Engineering. After 6 yrs. in Los Alamos, Ed transferred to the Hanford Nuclear Site in the Tri Cities area of Richland, Pasco & Kennewick, WA. Ed retired from architecture and moved back to Grand Forks to be near three of his four children in 2001. Ed moved to Bismarck in August of 2008 and was a resident of the Waterford retirement community at the time of his death. Even though Ed was a master of design, loved to draw, paint, and had quite an illustrious career, he was unable to correct the human design flaws which ended his life; Alzheimer’s with dementia and lung cancer. Ed was surrounded by his sons, their spouses and two grandsons, Dalton and Ian, at the time of his passing. Edward L. Adams III is survived by his four children, their spouses, grandchildren, and great grandchildren; Edward L. Adams IV MD Nancy of Grand Forks, EJ Edward L. Adams V and fiancé Lyndsie Deutz of Denver CO., and Casey Adams of Grand Forks. Erin Gibb Dick Dallas City, IL, Brittany Johnson Warner, Johnny and Jayden Warner of Florida and Andrea Johnson PJ and unborn son, Davion of Schaumburg IL. Jon S. Adams Mary, Dalton Adams friend Maggie Carlson, and Ian Adams of Bismarck. Allison Adams, Benjamin Harms and Kouba Jacob Harms of Grand Forks. Those predeceased are Edwards’s parents, grandparents, aunts& uncles as well as many friends, business associates and employees. The family of Edward L. Adams III would like to thank St Alexius Hospice, Spectrum Home Care, and the staff of the Waterford for their kind and caring compassion to Dad during his last days. Memorials may be given to the Central Dakota Humane Society or a charity of the donor’s choice.

Edward L. Adams III

August 4, 1930 - December 25, 2008