Paul Adkins

Howard W. Adkins, Jr., known as Paul to most of his friends and family, passed away on October 30, 2026. He was born on December 6, 1937, in Branchland, West Virginia, to Helen Burger and Howard W. Adkins, Sr.

He graduated from Guyan Valley High School where he starred in a variety of sports, particularly basketball. After a year at Greenbrier Military School, he accepted a basketball scholarship offer to the University of Virginia. He starred for the Cavaliers, too, earning all-conference honors as a junior and a senior, being named team captain as a senior, and scoring more than 1,100 career points. Paul’s career was highlighted by leading UVA to wins over #4 West Virginia University and #3 University of North Carolina just two months apart during his junior year. WAHOOWA (if you know, you know).

After college, Paul moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and there he met a pretty United Airlines stewardess named Marlene Melillo. She was the love of his life and he called her the best lady he ever knew. They were married on September 17, 1966, in Crafton, Pennsylvania. His work with Skyline Homes moved them down the Atlantic Coast. They liked to tell the story that in their first six years of marriage they celebrated Christmas in six different cities. They landed in Ocala, Florida, in 1971 and lived there for the next 47 years, working, raising a family, volunteering in the community – Paul was in Sertoma, a Freemason, and coached youth baseball – and eventually enjoying retirement together.

Paul realized very quickly that cruising was his favorite way to travel. Be it Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Europe, or South America, if a ship was leaving port, he was ready to hop on board. He and Marlene quite literally traveled the world visiting 25 countries and all 50 United States.

As a young professional, he took up golf and, as with most things he tried, he became quite good at it. He always had a regular weekend game and, once he retired, he added a regular weekday game to it!

He was a devoted fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Reds. He grew up listening to the Reds games on the radio and when he found out he could stream their games to his iPad he signed up immediately and he rarely missed a game over the last several years. He never lost his feel for basketball and was always willing to challenge his kids and grandkids to a game of H-O-R-S-E in the driveway (it seemed like he never missed that old-style hook shot). He dearly loved his family. Nothing gave him more pleasure than being silly with the grandkids. Whether he was trying to persuade them to “walk this way” or describing how he walked to school in the snow uphill both ways and had to kill a bear with his three-ring binder or occasionally embarrassing them in public, he cherished every moment with them. He always told them it was the Adkins blood that made them so pretty/handsome.

He is preceded in death by his parents, and three sisters: Jean, Jolene, and Hope. He is survived by son Michael (wife Sharman), daughter Amy (husband Jay); grandchildren Audrey Strutton (husband John and great-grandsons Benjamin and Thomas), Amanda Owen (husband Daniel), Charley Williams, Madi Williams, and Jackson Williams; and several nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held on Sunday, November 22, at 1:00 p.m., immediately followed by a memorial service at 2:00 p.m. at Volusia Memorial Funeral Home in Ormond Beach.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, one of the organizations he regularly supported.