J ames Adams Jr. age 81, died Saturday, March 14, 2020 at the Monticello Nursing and Rehabilitation Center following an extended illness.  Jim donated his body to University of Iowa Department of Anatomy for research.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Jim Adams on Saturday, July 16 at the Durgin Pavilion at Camp Courageous. The doors of the upper level will be open at 1 p.m. with a service held at 1:30 p.m. From about 2:15-3:30 p.m. guests will be invited to share memories and condolences with the family, have a snack, and perhaps take a stroll around Lake Todd and the acres of wildflowers as Jim would have loved to do.

Jim was born on Oct. 2, 1938 to James and Kathryn Pillard Adams. He passed away after a long fight from Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's Disease on March 14, 2020. Following his wishes, Joy donated his body to the Deeded Body Research Program at University Hospitals in Iowa City. They kept his body almost two years and then retuned his ashes.

As a boy, Jim got his love for flowers from his mother and grandmother. When he was a junior in high school, he started Adams Nursery in his parents' barnyard. His mother joined him and when he went into building houses, she took it over. One of his favorite jobs was to help landscape the Frank Lloyd Wright Cedar Rock House for the Walters family. It is open to the public near Quasqueton. Wright was Jim's favorite architect and he later designed his home and cabin after his style.
Jim built his first house after graduation from Monticello High School in 1956. He ended up building around 200 houses in town and named several streets including El Camino Real. He built many styles of homes including the middle-class neighborhood he called the Goettsch Addition. There he had extra land so with Armin Jacobs created Jacobs Park. If someone had just moved to town but could not afford to buy a house, Jim would create a contract and let them pay on time.

When the Cuban Crisis developed, Jim served in the U.S. Army for two years. Luckily the crisis was averted, but he learned the art of cooking and his love of antiques. On Aug. 7, 1978, Jim married Joy Miller. Together they built large gardens around their home. He helped Joy and many other founders of Riverside Gardens. He designed the shapes of the flower beds, the pergola and helped Joy design the trail around the wetland. He helped Joe and Doris Jones pick out a gazebo to donate to Riverside and it was his idea to make a street through the park rather than just a parking lot so folks could drive through and enjoy the water and the flowers. Later, he designed the new gates to the cemetery when he was on the cemetery board

He is survived by his wife, Joy, 2 nieces Kathy (Pat Devaney) Adams, Marcia (Tony) Kraus, and 2 nephews, Mike (Lisa) Adams, Scott (Jennie) Adams and many great-nieces and nephews.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Dick and Dick's wife Rachel, many aunts and uncles, and his grandparents.

If you would like, you can donate in his memory to Riverside Gardens, Camp Courageous, or to the Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Foundation.