Robert Adams

One of the greatest fictional TV taverns, “Cheers,” was well-known as a place where everybody knows your name. The reason why Robert Adams was so popular, wherever he went, was because he was the kindest, funniest and friendliest person everybody knew. And, he always remembered your name, too. He loved to be around people. He loved to hang out at Wetmore Bar, Papa’s Bar & Grill on Broadway, Oxtail, Sunset, Barfly’s and Sir Winston’s, because he just loved the people there. When he wasn’t being the life of the party, he made sure everyone else around him was having a good time. His first instinct was always to be kind. For years he volunteered at “Meals on Wheels” where he delivered meals to the elderly. He wouldn’t just deliver meals. He sat down to talk with these people who had no one else with whom to talk. He would listen to their stories and try to make them laugh. He was the biggest fan of smile-inducing one-liners. He always tried to make his many friends, and even strangers, laugh. Whether it was a strange quote from a historical figure, a famous athlete or movie, or if it was an odd contradiction, inconsistency or absurdity that he noticed just the other day, he would not hesitate to recite it to anyone if he thought it would make them laugh. And, even if they had heard it a million times before. Bob was one of the best salesmen in the world, because he loved people. He enjoyed his work because he was the epitome of a “people person.” He believed in shaking hands, being kind to your neighbors and treating strangers the way he wanted to be treated. He would almost always say “hello” to strangers on the elevator and strike up a conversation. He would sit in the front seat of a taxi or Uber, and strike up a conversation with the driver. He was genuinely interested in learning everything about everybody he met. The more he knew about you, the more he liked you. If you liked sports, he liked you even more. If you knew Bob, or just met Bob, it only took a few minutes to learn how much he loved sports, especially the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the San Antonio Spurs. He had a knack for bowling, enjoyed playing games and he also loved all kinds of trivia, but especially sports trivia. If any of his friends needed to learn the answer to a difficult sports trivia question, even if they were thousands of miles away, they would call Bob to find out the answer.

Bob was born in Logan, Iowa on June 26, 1949, but he grew up in Omaha, Nebraska with his father Othel Adams, his mother Lora Adams and his brother Larry Adams. He loved his older brother more than anyone else on the planet and always looked up to him. The music Bob liked was not the music he grew up with, but the music his brother listened to. Soon after serving in the U.S. Navy, Larry married Carol Spencer and they had three children, Kim, Karrie and Kyle. Bob attended Burke High School in Omaha where he met his first wife, Linda Miller. All through high school he worked hard and saved until he had enough money to attend Graceland College in Iowa. After a couple years at Graceland College, Bob returned to Omaha where he graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a degree in marketing. When he married Linda he took a job as a salesman for Del Monte Foods, a company of which he was always very proud, in Norfolk, Nebraska. Soon after moving to Norfolk he had his first child, Bryan Lynn Adams. Six months later the company he loved transferred him to heaven, in his eyes. He worked for Del Monte in California, where he was near his beloved Dodgers. A couple years later he had his second child, Brenda Marie Adams. Life went on and the family moved back to Omaha, and then to Houston, Texas in 1977. He spent five years in Houston where he left Del Monte for Cintas and then Southern Fasteners and Tools. When the opportunity to return to Del Monte arose, he jumped at the chance, which brought him to San Antonio, Texas in 1984. Bryan went off to college in 1990 and Brenda had his first grandchild in 2002, Kaitlynn Marie Adams. Meanwhile, Bob married a second time, and divorced, before meeting and marrying his third wife, Jan Petersen, who died of cancer earlier this year. Together Bob and Jan raised his step-son Michael Peterson, who now lives in Austin.

Over the years Bob met and befriended tens of thousands of people, and probably remembered most of them until the day he died on Dec. 24, 2024. Bob will truly be missed by everyone he met. He was the life of the party, the biggest Dodgers fan in Texas and the friendliest man everybody knew.

MEMORIAL SERVICESATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 20252:00 PMPORTER LORING MORTUARY NORTH2102 NORTH LOOP 1604 EAST

Pastor Tom Masterson will be officiating.