Lee Roy Adams III

Born in Columbia, LA, on September 5th, 1943 to Marie Rita Poleman and Dr. Lee Roy Adams Jr., Lee was the eldest child of a large, rambunctious, Catholic family.

Growing up on the banks of the Ouachita river, Lee fell in love with the rhythm and flow of water. Boating, fishing, and water skiing with family and friends filled his childhood and honed Lee’s skills to read water, wind, and atmosphere.

Lee graduated from Columbia High School in 1960, where he was active on the football and basketball teams as well as playing trumpet in the band. Family stories tell how game days on the gridiron were busy for Lee. He’d start off wearing his #64 jersey and pads, but at the half, he’d swap out to his band uniform and join the musicians on field. Before the second half of the game started, he would jump back into his jersey and finish up the game.

In his early twenties, Lee moved to his mother’s hometown of New Orleans, LA. He quickly settled in and found work as a painter, sandblaster and a ditch digger. Before long, Lee was lured by the job opportunities on the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico and began working as a deckhand on tugboats and an offshore diver.

It was natural that Lee’s love of all things nautical brought him to Lake Pontchartrain and a community of sailors and boatbuilders. He soon developed a deep passion for wooden sail boats that would last his lifetime. Lee saved his money and bought a small sailboat that led to a larger sailboat and more boats in the ensuing decades. He spent time hanging out at the Lakefront Marina in New Orleans, learning the ins and outs of boat upkeep and repairs. Work always paired with fun, and amiable Lee made many friends at the marina, including Tom Avery (now of Denver, CO) who would become his lifelong friend.

Around this time, he met a beautiful, young woman who was fixing up a 5.5m wooden boat. Her name was Meloney Talbot. Many of the guys in the boatyard had offered to help her—only to be turned down. Yet when Lee saw Meloney painting the boat one morning and asked if he could help, she handed him a brush. That collaboration of painting a boat grew into a friendship, dating, falling in love and eventually marriage.

Marrying Meloney drew Lee and his family into her large, close-knit family and thriving community of friends. Their married life blossomed into a happy rotation of parties, family dinners, camping trips and adventures on waterways.

At work, Lee’s dedication as a deckhand led to being a mate. He continued to stockpile his experience and hours at sea and took the Captains Exam and passed. In the late 1970s, Captain Lee bought his first workboat, the Miss J & L, and for many years plied the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, shuttling supplies between oil rigs. Except for a handful of years where he spent time chartering sailboats in Miami, FL, exploring the Florida Keys and Bahamas, Lee’s longest career was captaining jack-up boats in the Gulf of Mexico.

Moving to Poplarville, MS, in the early 1990s, Lee and Meloney settled into life in a small town. While he continued boating and fishing the local waterways with Meloney, he also became enamored with the land and gardening a yard full of camellias and roses. As his many family and friends can attest, Lee was a true gentleman. Along with being a devoted husband, son, brother, uncle, and friend, he had a sweet, kind soul and was witty, well-read, quick to laugh and react to lend a hand.

Lee is preceded in death by his mother, father, his brother John Adams, and a long list of beloved pets, including his precious Labrador retriever, Jack.

Lee will be forever missed by his loving wife of 42 years, Meloney Talbot-Adams; his siblings Mary Riser, Betty Smith (Kenny), Kate McClendon (Wallace), Pete Adams; his in-laws Collette Falgout (John), Maurice Talbot (Deanna), Michelle Kelsey (Dave); his many nieces and nephews and greats; his caretaker Glenda Amacker; a huge community of friends from both his years on land and water; and lastly he will be missed by a dog named Buoy.

Family and friends are invited to a funeral Mass for Lee at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Poplarville, where Lee was a longtime member. The Mass will be on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at 11 am, followed by a reception in the parish hall. Burial will follow at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, Meloney has asked that donations be made in memory of Lee to the Pearl River County SPCA in Picayune, MS, or the Maritime Museum of Louisiana.