By Sharon Mager
DOVER, Del.—Virginia Josephine Adams died on July 4, 2018, at Kent General Hospital. Adams ministered alongside her husband, the Rev. Charles Adams as he pastored Upper Seneca Baptist Church, Germantown; Grace Baptist Church, Seaford, and finally First Southern Baptist Church, Dover, where the couple ministered for 27 years before retirement. Charles Adams died in 2002.
Virginia Adams, the beloved wife of the late BCM/D Pastor Charles Adams, died on July 4.
She was born October 8, 1929, in New Hope, Ala., to the late Allen and Etoile Williams. A graduate of Coffee High School in Florence, Ala., she held a bachelor of science degree from Florence State Teacher’s College and a master’s degree from the Carver School of Missions in Louisville, Ky. Adams taught second grade at the Allen Freer Elementary School for 30 years and long into her retirement, she talked lovingly about her school children.
She and Charles were members of New Harvest Baptist Church, Dover, after their retirement where she continued to minister, teaching Sunday school, and serving on mission trips. She enjoyed singing in the choir and even sang on the Sunday before her death.
Adams’ son Mark Adams, pastor of Redland Baptist Church, said his mother was always active in ministry, inviting ladies from the church to her home for tea each month, and going on mission trips even after retirement.
He said his parents always modeled service and hospitality. “Our church family was really a family for us,” he said.
Melody Knox, Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCM/D) church strengthening specialist for women, fondly recalls Adams. “When I came to the BCM/D in 2007, one of my assignments was to assist the history committee at their meetings. Ms. ‘Jennie’ was a member of that committee and immediately took me into her heart.”
Knox said they continued to cross paths at ministers’ wives events. “She always made me feel loved and special. I loved hearing her stories about her life as a pastor’s wife with her precious Charles.”
Jim McBride Sr., pastor of New Harvest Baptist Church, said, “She had a heart for missions and shared her love for Jesus and family with everyone she met.”
In addition to her husband, Adams was preceded in death by her parents, and her siblings: Bruce, Mary Lee, Jim, and Robert.
She is survived by her siblings, Charles of Florence, Ala., and Sue of Huntsville, Ala., as well as her children, the Rev. Mark Adams and his wife Sue, of Derwood, Md.; Jon and his wife Karen of Sunderland, Md., Matt and his wife Debbie, of Kansas City, Kan., and Elisa and her spouse Joline of Solebury, Pa. She also had seven grandchildren, Daniel, Sarah, Becca, Kate, David, Laura, and Rose, and three great-grandchildren, Lydia, Joel, and Nathan.
A funeral was held on July 7 at Torbert Funeral Chapel South, 1145 E. Lebanon Road (Rt. 10), Dover. She is interred at Sharon Hill Cemetery (2828 Sharon Hill Road, Dover).
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the building fund at New Harvest Baptist Church or to the American Diabetes Association.