Vivian Ellington Adkins

She was born in May of 1936. While not part of the Greatest Generation, her generation witnessed some of human species greatest achievements; nuclear energy, DNA manipulation, the eradication of some the most deadly diseases, palm size computing, and the Space Race. I can remember her gathering us in the living room to watch the first moon landing.

Vivian was an Ellington. Daughter to Robert and Eva Ellington. When Eva passed, Vivian and her four siblings, Robert, Jimmy, Barbara and Peggy, were raised by Macon and Vivian Jefferys. Vivian Jefferys was Vivian’s aunt. The Jefferies went on to have two daughters of their own as well, Diane and Susie, all raised as one loving family.

She married young. She had 4 children. 2 girls followed by 2 boys. She lived most of her life in the Raleigh/Cary area, with the exception of brief stints in Ohio and Dallas.

Divorced in 1971, she raised her four children as a single mother from pre-teen to adulthood. She struggled. Like so many of the era, the children were latch-key kids, as Vivian worked to make enough money to support her family. Still, her children never wanted for anything. There were family vacations to the coast, school trips, adventures she made happen.

She was preceded in death by her two brothers, Robert Ellington and Jimmy Ellington and sister Barbara Ellington.

Vivian is survived by her sisters: Peggy Olive of Raleigh, NC; Diane Waters of Cary, NC; and Susie Brown and her husband, Bruce, of Fayetteville, NC; along with her children Sharon Adkins of Cary, NC; Kathryn Marr and her husband Allen of Climax MI; Michael Adkins and his wife Laura of Niota, TN; and Richard Adkins and his wife Marsha of Cary, NC; along with grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Vivian Adkins died while in hospice care just a few weeks after her 90th birthday.

Visitation will be held at the Chapel of Mitchell Funeral Home, 7209 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina 27612, on July 7, 2026, at 10:00 am, followed by a Funeral Service at the same location on July 7, 2026, at 11:00 am.

A Graveside Service will take place at Raleigh Memorial Park, 7501 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina 27612, immediately following the Funeral Service, on July 7, 2026.

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