Betty-Anne Hardy Adams, 97, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on March 16 at Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill after a long and vigorous life. She was the wife of the late Col. Lewis R. Adams to whom she was married for 65 years, and who passed away in 2008.
Born in Haverhill on February 3, 1921, Adams was the beloved daughter of Dr. Wilbert C. and Cora (Alderton) Hardy.
She graduated from Haverhill High School as a member of the class of 1938 and continued her education at Colby Sawyer Junior College earning her associate’s degree in medical technology. She worked at Lahey Clinic and Deaconess Hospital before marrying Capt. Lewis R. Adams and accompanied him to various posts stateside and overseas. In her first overseas trip to Germany in 1946, Adams travelled in a DC-3, returning in 1949 on board a C-54 MATS. Once stateside, she became involved in Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts in support of her children. She taught Sunday school at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and served as a Gray Lady for the Red Cross where she received a commendation for her work in the Laboratory & X-Ray Department.
Adams was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church in Haverhill until moving to Atkinson, N.H., when she joined the Atkinson Congregational Church. In Atkinson, she participated in many community and charitable endeavors. She served as Cancer Chairperson, collected for various other charities, was a member of the Atkinson Country Club, PEO Chapter D, in Hampstead, N.H., Saturday Morning Book Club, and was a longtime member of the Cedardale Athletic Club, where she spent many hours in the pool and countless summers basking in the sun with her many friends. Adams loved to swim and travel and cherished the opportunity to gather with friends and family. She especially enjoyed the youngest members of the family and her many grand and great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and their children, and her grand- and great-grandnieces and nephews.
Adams is survived by her daughters Wendy Adams of Haverhill, Tracy Adams Mitchell and her husband Scott of Atkinson, N.H., grandchildren Brooke Adams-Ferguson of Yuma, Ariz., Keaven Adams and his wife Ruth of Shelbyville, Ky., Enzo Adams Mitchell and Julia Madeleine Mitchell, both of Atkinson, N.H., great-grandsons Greyson Ferguson, Kian and Garrett Adams, nieces Cindy (Hardy) White of New London, N.H., Jody (Hardy) Brown of South Strafford, Vt., Debbie (Adams) Keogh of Wayland, nephews W.C. Hardy III of Norwich, Vt., Paul Hardy of South Strafford, Vt., Charles S. Adams, Jr. of Marblehead, and many grand- and great-nieces and nephews. She is the wife of the late Col. Lewis R. Adams, mother of the late Lewis R. Adams, Jr., and sister of the late Wilbert C. Hardy, Jr.
Arrangements by Dole, Childs & Shaw Funeral Home, 148 Main St., Haverhill will be private as will be the burial at Linwood Cemetery. Donations in her memory may be made to the charity of donor’s choice.