MARY ELLEN "JINX" (KEYES) ADAMS

MARY ELLEN "JINX" (KEYES) ADAMS, 95, of Fort Wayne, passed away on Friday, June 18, 2021, at Coventry Meadows with her family near. Born May 8, 1926, in Platte ville, Wis., she attended grade school at St. Mary's in Platteville. Her family then moved to South Bend, where she attended SB Riley High School. She then attended St. Mary's College of the Rosary for a year before transferring to Indiana University, where she was a charter member of the Alpha Phi Sorority and graduated in 1948 from the Business School (now the Kelley School of Business).

During the summers in college, she worked as an Assistant Buyer and model at the clothing store Mandell Brothers in Chicago. While at IU, she met her future husband E. Wade on a date, he was in his last year of IU Medical School. In 1949, she married the love of her life, Dr. E. Wade Adams. He was in the Navy V-12 Program that took them to Toledo for a one-year medical internship and then back to the Navy in the Korean War upon the U.S.S. Missouri. They lived in a variety of places, including Kittery, Maine, Norfolk, Va., and then Columbus, Ohio, where Dr. Adams was finishing his pediatric residency at the Children's Hospital. They permanently planted roots in Fort Wayne in 1954.

Jinx was active in the community, with memberships in the Antiquarians Club, Saturday Club, South Side Child Study, Tri Kappa, and the Allen County Medical Auxiliary, to name a few. She was a Cub Scout leader, loved the outdoors, taught her children how to collect insects, and has an exhibit at Fox Island, donated by her children. She was a long-standing parishioner of St. Jude Catholic Church until moving to southwest Fort Wayne and joined the parish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. She was also a member of Fort Wayne Country Club, where she participated in golf and tennis.

Jinx was a successful business woman, owning and operating Boulevard Interiors on Tennessee Avenue and her home on Forest Park Boulevard for 22 years. She loved her poodles, Raven and Misty. She supported her children by attending plays, music and dance recitals, and "lots" of sporting events, and graduations, too. She and E. Wade traveled to some wonderful places in the world, which resulted in a picture that turned into a Christmas card. She loved her grandchildren and was able to see many of her great- grandchildren.

"Jinx" is survived by her children, Wade C. (Sharon) Adams of Gibsonville, N.C., Gregory J. (Susan) Adams, Dr. Mark T. (Lisa) Adams of Fort Wayne, Dr. Timothy C. (Pam) Adams of Indianapolis, and Ann (Matt) Heminger of Portland, Ore.; 18 grandchildren, and 12 great- grandchildren. Mary Ellen was the daughter of the late Orton F. and Frances Burg Keyes.

She was preceded in death by her younger brother, James Orton Keyes; and her loving husband, Dr. E. Wade Adams.

"She will be sorely missed, but happy once again to see the love of her life".

Mass of Christian Burial is 11 a.m. Friday, June 25, 2021, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 10700 Aboite Center Road, where calling is one hour prior to the start of mass. Reverend John Delany celebrant, Reverend Terry Coonan, concelebrant, Reverend, Mr. Jim Kitchens, Homilist. Callings also from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 24, 2021, at D.O. McComb & Sons Covington Knolls Funeral Home, 8325 Covington Road, Fort Wayne, with the Rosary at 5:30 p.m. Burial in Divine Mercy Catholic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Keyes family charity, Orton Keyes Scholarship c/o University of Wisconsin Platteville Foundation, PO Box 254, Platteville, WI 38188. Check memo must say Orton Keyes Scholarship. Condolences may be left online at www.mccombandsons.com

Published by Fort Wayne Newspapers on Jun. 23, 2021.

06/15/2023 EJS

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