Dr. Don K. Adams (1924-2018)

Veterinarian responded to calls day and night

5/17/2018
BY MARK ZABORNEY
BLADE STAFF WRITER

MONTPELIER, Ohio — Dr. Don K. Adams, whose town-and-country veterinary practice encompassed companion animals brought to his home office and farm animals that might require care at any hour, died Sunday in the rehabilitation center at Kingston of Perrysburg. He was 93.

He had pneumonia, his daughter Elaine Moore said. Dr. Adams and his wife, Caroline, moved from Montpelier to Kingston about 14 months ago.

Adams
Adams

Dr. Adams, a 1953 veterinary graduate of Ohio State University, worked in Fremont for a year before settling down in Williams County and in 1955 setting up a practice in Montpelier. He retired in 2000 and donated his veterinary instruments to Sauder Village, the living history site near Archbold, Ohio.

“Everyone called him ‘Doc Adams,’” his daughter said.

A sign outside the Adams home announced the practice within. Most mornings, he called on area farms, reserving afternoons for pets and their owners who would visit the office — the Adamses’ basement divided into waiting room, exam, and operating rooms. His wife, a registered nurse, assisted.

“He performed all of the surgeries in our basement,” his daughter said.

Emergencies didn’t respect schedules.

“Our phone rang all the time,” his daughter said. “He never complained a second. He loved all creatures.”

Dr. Adams’ services might be requested at midnight or on a holiday or weekend to assist with farm animal births. If he needed to be sent on another call, his wife could radio him in the car.

He was a 24-year member of the Monpelier Board of Education, from the 1960s into the 1980s, and handed all of his children their diplomas. He also was on the board of Four County Joint Vocational School, Archbold, and was a trustee of Northwest State Community College, Archbold. He was a past regional president of the Ohio School Boards Association.

He was a past president of the local industrial development committee and a past president of the Williams County Historical Society.

“He was interested in his community, and he wanted to better his community,” his daughter said. “He was always a visionary. He was so invested in education and schools, the historical society, getting new industry to come to Montpelier.”

He was born Nov. 5, 1924, in Wayne, Ohio, to Florence and Graydon Adams, and grew up on a farm near Clyde, Ohio. He was a 1942 graduate of Clyde High School.

In the Army during World War II, Dr. Adams served in the 251st Port Company of the Transportation Corps and was based in the China-Burma-India theater. He departed from the U.S. East Coast. After he landed in San Francisco nearly three years later, he had circumnavigated the globe.

He was a member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Montpelier, where he held positions in leadership through the decades.

Surviving are his wife, the former Caroline Lucas, whom he married Dec. 19, 1948; daughters, Deborah Lilly, Elaine Moore, Anne Boetel, Grace Frericks; son, John; 10 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Montpelier. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Monday in the church. Arrangements are by the Thompson Funeral Home, Montpelier.

The family suggests tributes to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church or the Montpelier Area Foundation to benefit the Montpelier High School alumni scholarship fund.

Contact Mark Zaborney at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.