Kathryn Eloise Adams, age 88, a native of Bay Minette, Ala. and a resident of Fairhope, Ala., passed away on Sunday, May 3, 2015.
She was married to her childhood sweetheart Roy C. Adams in 1946, and the two moved numerous times before establishing their home in the Fairhope area in 1972. They became active members of the First Baptist Church of Fairhope where they faithfully served, hosting countless fellowship meals for church members, youth groups and many visiting groups.
She was well known and admired for being a great cook, particularly for seafood dishes. For 13 years she authored a column in the Eastern Shore Courier and other Baldwin County newspapers titled “Eloise’s Kitchen,” where she repeatedly offered this observation: “It’s almost impossible to make a small pot of gumbo — or it is for me.”
Nominated by the First Baptist Church staff, she was selected as Fairhope’s “Best Cook” and was featured in a regional cookbook titled “Key Ingredients Cooking Along the Gulf Coast,” published in conjunction with The Smithsonian Institution’s Key Ingredients traveling exhibition in 2005.
An “outdoorsman” at heart, she enjoyed hunting, crabbing and fishing and was known to be especially skilled at throwing a cast net in Mobile Bay, predicting jubilees along the Eastern Shore, and gigging flounders.
She had an enviable “green thumb” and enjoyed gardening, participating in The Garden Club on the local, regional and state level in years past.
She was also a skilled quilter and spent many hours hand-quilting special pieces for those she loved. Above all, she loved cooking for and spending time with her cherished family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Roy C. Adams; her parents William Franklin and Eula Mae Jones Rasberry; two sisters and two brothers, Willie Mae Rasberry, Rev. William Francis Rasberry (Earnestine), Doris Bryars (Peyton) and Col. John Earl Rasberry (Ret.); and infant great-grandson Kailen Takashi Walden.
She is survived by her two children, Kay Owen (Bobby) of Bon Secour and Jeannie Horton (Brandon) of Birmingham; her three grandchildren, Paul “Butch” Pierce (Lauri) of Burton, Ohio, Debbie Walden (Tak) of Orlando, Fla. and Adam Edwards of Birmingham; five great-grandchildren, Sean Walden and Andre Walden of Orlando, Fla., Jaqueline DeRue and Justin Pierce of Burton, Ohio, and Francis Anna Pierce, of Wurzburg, Germany; sister-in-law, Joy Rasberry of Melbourne, Fla.; and numerous beloved nieces, nephews, friends and other relatives.
A celebration of her life will be held on Friday May 8, 2015, at 3 p.m., at First Baptist Church Fairhope, and the family will receive friends on Friday from 2 until the time of the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the First Baptist Church of Fairhope, 300 S. Section St., Fairhope, AL 36532, or to the charity of your choice.
Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Homes and Crematory Inc., 19698 Greeno Road, Fairhope, AL 36532, 251-990-7775, www.wolfefuneralhomes.com.
