Rachel F Adams

Rachel Floyd Adams died November 2, 2025, at the age of 96, in Fairmont, NC, where she had been living since departing her home in Winter Haven, Florida in April of 2024. She is predeceased by her parents Aubrey and Dessie Floyd of Barnesville, NC, by her husband of 52 years, Frank C. Adams of Rocky Mount, NC, by her sisters and their husbands, Billie Dove and Fulton Reeves Lupo of Cary, NC and Bettie Gale and William Allen Hayes of Fairmont, NC, and by her nephew, Kenneth Byron Lupo. She is survived by eight nephews and nieces: Charles Eric Lupo (Donna), Rebecca Gayle Lupo, Billie Melessa Henry (Jim), Carrie Jacquelyn Lupo, Fulton Keith Lupo (Amy), William Allen Hayes, Jr., Sandra Gale Hayes, and Bradley Floyd Hayes, plus several great and great-great nephews and nieces.

Rachel was born on May 30, 1929, in Robeson County, NC. As a youth, she attended primary school in Barnesville and did chores on the family farm. After completing her primary education at 16 years of age, she attended and graduated from East Carolina Teachers College, becoming a home economics teacher. She taught for 33 years, primarily at Cradock High School in Portsmouth, VA. It was a job she loved and did happily throughout her career.

Upon retirement, Rachel and her husband, Frank, moved to Grandy in northeastern NC. They eventually purchased property in Winter Haven, FL, becoming snowbirds for a time, until moving to Florida full-time in the late 1990’s.

Naturally creative and a lover of all things beautiful, Rachel flourished during her retirement. She took up painting, producing more than 100 oil paintings. She loved music, playing the piano in her youth, but taking up the organ in her later years. In Winter Haven, she became part of a group of organ players called “The Clefhangers” where she made

many friends and participated in public performances. Other creative endeavors included writing poetry and verse, producing homemade greeting cards, making Cabbage Patch Dolls, and collecting inspirational quotes which she used to produce homemade books and cards that she gave to family and friends.

Rachel was a lifelong Methodist and a member of United Methodist Women for most of her adult life. One Sunday at church, she saw a woman wearing a butterfly broach on the back of her shirt just below the left shoulder. When asked, this lady told Rachel the story of the butterfly and how it struggles to emerge from its cocoon, explaining how it reflected her faith and struggles to follow and grow in Christ, and her hope that she might, one day, be able to spread her wings like the butterfly, a beautiful creation of God. Rachel felt this was also her story. So, with the lady’s permission, she began to wear a butterfly pin behind her left shoulder and sharing her story of how the butterfly symbolized her life through the transformation and rebirth of finding new life in Christ to anyone who asked. That butterfly broach gave her the opportunity to give a testimony regarding her faith.

She began collecting butterfly broaches and wearing them every day. Over the years, butterflies became a theme of hers, showing up in poetry or as pictures in cards or as decorations in her house. She became known as “The Butterfly Lady” in the community where she lived in Florida. In addition, she developed a “Butterfly Talk” which she presented to various civic and church groups.

Rachel Floyd Adams was a unique and special person. She never really concerned herself with the world at large. She always focused on the people around her, always looking for ways to express loving kindness to everyone, either personally or through the things she created; beautiful things, wholesome things, things that uplifted and had the potential to express something like joy. She did a good job. She will be missed.

The family wishes to thank Gentiva Hospice in Robeson County for their continuous and genuine care for Rachel through her last days. Also, the family would like to thank Reeves Funeral Home for their professional assistance and advice. It is much appreciated.

The graveside service will be at Bethesda United Methodist Church, 4413 Leggett Road, Fairmont, NC at 11:00 AM, Saturday, December, 6, 2025.