Memoirs of Francis Adams

This is an excerpt from "LEST WE FORGET", a book of family history and pictures compiled and published by Francis' mother Ruth (VanDyke) Adams and provided to me by Francis' sisters Janice and Kathleen.

Born October 25, 1931, I was the seventh child of Ruth and Russell Adams. I was named Francis Loyal.

The rented farm in Senate Valley was my home for 11 years. Nearly seven years were spent in the one- room schoolhouse a quarter of a mile from home.

In March of 1943 we moved to the farm located on Muddy Creek, one mile east of Broken Bow. The city school was a harsh change for an 11 year old in the seventh grade. I worked on the farm and attended school until graduation in 1948.

I left Broken Bow to attend the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for the 1949-1950 school year. During that time Phyllis Ann Curley came into my life, and in January of 1951 we were married at my home in Broken Bow.

The next four years were spent farming and with the United States Army, with my last duty station at Fort Carson, Colorado, which established my residency to attend school in Fort Collins. I enrolled in the veterinary medical program at Colorado State University in 1955. After six years of studying, working and raising our family, and armed with the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, we emigrated to Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada where I practiced in a mixed large and small animal practice.

We returned to the U.S. in 1004, choosing Madison, Wisconsin, for our new home. We soon decided we would like to remain here and consider this our adopted home. We were also pleased to learn that the Madison area had significance to our family as the place where our great-grandfather had established a homestead.

For the next several years I was occupied with several animal vaccine companies while Phyllis returned to school to soon become a Registered Professional Reporter (court reporter).

I joined the Federal Service in 1972 and was stationed at Madison as a Veterinary Medical Officer with the Department of Agriculture, Meat and Poultry Operations, while Phyllis pursued a career as a court reporter, mother and housewife. I have advanced through several supervisory positions while still being stationed in Madison.

1989 finds our family living and working in Madison, with our sons, Bruce, Karl, Craig, our daughters- in-law Peggy and Janet and our grandchildren, Jason, Andy and Joni, close by to love and enjoy.


This page was created on May 13, 2003. If you have comments, corrections or additional information or pictures you would like to contribute, feel free to contact Dave Nims.