Rosemary S Adams

She is survived by a son, Steve Hawkins; daughter, Nancy Hawkins Pack (Nathan); stepdaughter, Toni Adams Dye; stepson, Kenny Adams; grandchildren, Leah P. Scarborough (Jeff), Sam Pack (Amanda); two great-grandchildren, William and Robert Pack; sister-in-law, Barbara Stansell; a host of nieces and nephews and many life-long friends in Lutz as well as Crossville, Alabama where she resided for twenty-five years. Mrs. Adams was preceded in death by her first husband, W.T. “Dick” Hawkins of Crossville, Alabama and Rev. Arvel E. Adams of Lutz, Florida, six sisters, and three brother, Dorothy Brannen, Alice Whitaker, Hazel Calhoun, Helen Tanner, Grace Merritt, JoAnn Campbell, Gus Stansell, Dan Stansell, and Charles “Bo” Stansell; stepsons, Kerry Adams and Alan Adams.

Rosemary was born December 21, 1927, to Gus and Hazel Stansell in Tampa, Florida and spent her early years in Gibsonton, Florida living next to the Alafia River. She attended Gardenville Elementary School and loved fishing and crabbing along the Alafia with her father and brothers. Upon moving to Tampa to live with close family friends, Mae and Ford Campbell, she attended Hillsborough high School, graduating in 1945. As a young adult she worked at Kress’s Department Store and Hav-A-Tampa Cigar in Tampa as well as a mail deliverer on a three-wheel scooter at Mac Dill Air Force Base. She met William T. “Dick” Hawkins who was in the navy, and they wed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1946 and moved to Crossville, Alabama to raise a family. She graduated from Jacksonville State University with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. During her teaching career she taught 5th grade at Geraldine Elementary, 4th grade at Crossville Elementary in Alabama, 6th grade at Crystal River Middle School in Florida and 4th grade at Seminole Presbyterian in Tampa, Florida.

After losing her husband, William T. Hawkins suddenly in 1969, she eventually moved back to Florida and later remarried Rev. Arvel Adams who passed in 1995.

Mrs. Adams was a member of the First Baptist Church of Gibsonton, FL, Crossville, AL, and Lutz, FL. She enjoyed Tarpon fishing with her brothers and participated in several Tampa Tarpon Tournaments in the sixties and seventies, once catching a 146 lbs. Tarpon, WOW! She also enjoyed many years of friendships and adventures bowling with the ladies bowling league in Brandon. Rosemary spent untold hours cooking meals for sick and disabled church family members through the years. Our Rosebud will be greatly missed by her family, many friends and loved ones.