[IMG]http://media.starbulletin.com/images/300*451/20081206_chun_a.jpg[/IMG]
In Peggy's memory
A service with spirit and style memorializes artist Peggy Chun

By Burl Burlingame


POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 06, 2008

Although there weren't many dry eyes in the house, Peggy Chun would have likely banned weeping at her funeral. The cheerful watercolorist and Honolulu bon vivant was beloved by friends for her sunny, funny personality.
A one-hour service for Chun, who died Nov. 19 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — Lou Gehrig's disease — was held yesterday at Kawaiaha'o Church and was attended by several hundred.

The service alternated between traditional Christian hymns with a Hawaiian flavor and amusing, heartfelt remembrances of Chun by family, friends and the ad hoc ohana known as "Peg's Legs," volunteers who helped the artist not only survive, but continue to paint.

"After my first experience with Peg's Legs, I knew she was in good hands," said brother Peter Richard.

Several friends wore butterfly wings on their backs and bobbing antennae atop their heads. "Oh, Peggy was known for her costumes," said Carol Greenwell, of Kona, who met Chun in Gloria Foss' art class a couple of decades ago. "The butterfly thing is a salute to her spirit. She was so full of life and positivity and creativity. And so much fun! She had a costume party every Christmas for her women friends. No men — unless they were in drag!"

Described by brother Mike Richard as an "Oklahoma Catholic," Chun moved to the islands in 1969 as a speech teacher. Chun's twin sister, Bobbie Segler, a notable artist herself, died in 1987 of ALS, and at that moment Chun decided to pick up the brush herself. She became an overnight artistic success in her middle age.

The service began with musicians playing "Kanaka Waiwai," ending just as a blown conch shell signaled a stately procession of Chun's immediate family. Hymns played during the service included traditional pieces such as "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace," and a reading of the 23rd Psalm. Friends Keola and Moana Beamer performed "Green Rose Hula."

"Peggy would have been thrilled by this wondrous gathering of friends," noted husband Elroy Chun. "To all of us she was Miss Sunshine, neither saint nor sinner."

"Isn't it just like Peggy to have perfect weather on the day of her funeral?" remarked Mike Richard. The name "Peggy," in the course of the service, became something more than a noun, with guests declaring "just like Peggy," and "that is like so Peggy."

"I won't say Peggy was an angel," said caregiver Marvel Armitage, who, with other caregivers, was dressed in a penguin suit. "She could be kolohe (mischievous) at times. All her characterizations were necessary to create her legend."

Son Eric Chun recalled his mother's fascination with the flowing, subtle color palette of clouds. "She lived the magic of childhood," he summarized.

Hospice minister Clarence Liu said he gave Chun the standard-issue "Funeral 101 talk," emphasizing "the funeral is not about you, it's about the family. Peggy just rolled her eyes and said, 'Well, Clarence, there ARE exceptions!'"

Chun, who was 62, would have been unlikely to "bid us adieu," summed Elroy Chun. "She'd say, 'Hi, folks! I hope you're all OK!'"



Although there weren't many dry eyes in the house, Peggy Chun would have likely banned weeping at her funeral. The cheerful watercolorist and Honolulu bon vivant was beloved by friends for her sunny, funny personality.

A one-hour service for Chun, who died Nov. 19 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — Lou Gehrig's disease — was held yesterday at Kawaiaha'o Church and was attended by several hundred.

The service alternated between traditional Christian hymns with a Hawaiian flavor and amusing, heartfelt remembrances of Chun by family, friends and the ad hoc ohana known as "Peg's Legs," volunteers who helped the artist not only survive, but continue to paint.

"After my first experience with Peg's Legs, I knew she was in good hands," said brother Peter Richard.

Several friends wore butterfly wings on their backs and bobbing antennae atop their heads. "Oh, Peggy was known for her costumes," said Carol Greenwell, of Kona, who met Chun in Gloria Foss' art class a couple of decades ago. "The butterfly thing is a salute to her spirit. She was so full of life and positivity and creativity. And so much fun! She had a costume party every Christmas for her women friends. No men — unless they were in drag!"

Described by brother Mike Richard as an "Oklahoma Catholic," Chun moved to the islands in 1969 as a speech teacher. Chun's twin sister, Bobbie Segler, a notable artist herself, died in 1987 of ALS, and at that moment Chun decided to pick up the brush herself. She became an overnight artistic success in her middle age.

The service began with musicians playing "Kanaka Waiwai," ending just as a blown conch shell signaled a stately procession of Chun's immediate family. Hymns played during the service included traditional pieces such as "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace," and a reading of the 23rd Psalm. Friends Keola and Moana Beamer performed "Green Rose Hula."

"Peggy would have been thrilled by this wondrous gathering of friends," noted husband Elroy Chun. "To all of us she was Miss Sunshine, neither saint nor sinner."

"Isn't it just like Peggy to have perfect weather on the day of her funeral?" remarked Mike Richard. The name "Peggy," in the course of the service, became something more than a noun, with guests declaring "just like Peggy," and "that is like so Peggy."

"I won't say Peggy was an angel," said caregiver Marvel Armitage, who, with other caregivers, was dressed in a penguin suit. "She could be kolohe (mischievous) at times. All her characterizations were necessary to create her legend."

Son Eric Chun recalled his mother's fascination with the flowing, subtle color palette of clouds. "She lived the magic of childhood," he summarized.

Hospice minister Clarence Liu said he gave Chun the standard-issue "Funeral 101 talk," emphasizing "the funeral is not about you, it's about the family. Peggy just rolled her eyes and said, 'Well, Clarence, there ARE exceptions!'"

Chun, who was 62, would have been unlikely to "bid us adieu," summed Elroy Chun. "She'd say, 'Hi, folks! I hope you're all OK!'"

First Briton to die at Swiss euthanasia clinic had fled Nazis

Former civil servant, 90, ended his life with a dose of barbiturates

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Monday, 8 December 2008


A former docker, Reg Crew is thought to have been the first British person to have travelled to die at Dignitas


A former senior civil servant who became the first British man to die with the help of a Swiss clinic had fled Nazi Austria for a new life in the United Kingdom in his youth.


The 90-year-old Briton, who only wanted to be known in reports by his first name, Chris, died on Friday afternoon in the company of his wife and a close friend after being cleared by British and Swiss doctors to fly to Switzerland to take a lethal dose of barbiturates.

According to a London hospital psychiatrist's report, seen by The Independent, Chris described how in his early life, after the death of his parents, he fled Austria and then Prague to escape persecution by the Nazis. He arrived in Britain in 1938, teaching physics and maths in Newcastle, before being interned on the Isle of Man as an "enemy alien".

After the war he returned to teaching at Birmingham University before leaving education to become a senior official at the Manpower Services Commission. Chris had been married three times and had been with his current wife for 30 years.

To end his life, the former civil servant, who lived in north London, used a little known group EX International, which says it offers assisted suicides based on Christian principles, and is estimated to be £2,000 cheaper than Dignitas – a long-established clinic based in Zurich.

Chris did not suffer terminal illness but said he wished to end his life while he was still of sound mind and before his body failed him. Although not terminally ill, in the past decade his health had deteriorated, and in 2006 he required a colostomy bag after being diagnosedwith a carcinoma of the colon.

Under British law it is a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment, to aid or abet in the death of another. British police had tried to contact Chris and his family shortly before they left for Switzerland last week.

The psychiatrist who wrote the report said: "When asked about the background to his decision, he told me the colostomy had not been a significant issue, psychologically.

"Far more important had been increasing problems with vertigo and short and medium-term memory due, as he understood it, to cerebral vascular problems."

He added: "He had to write himself lots of notes not to forget day-to-day items ... and he had difficulties using his computer with which he used to be very skilled. He had difficulty planning journeys, and found he could not recognise people he met socially, even quite recently ... [He] emphasised that although he was managing to function with his wife's help, it was clear his faculties were on the decline, and he was very concerned, anticipating that, before very long, he would not be able to cope with day-to-day life."

The report found Chris showed no signs of serious depression and that he had the "mental capacity" to decide to end his own life. His death reflects a growing demand from UK residents seeking to end their lives with dignity, and at a time of their own choosing.

Nearly 100 Britons have already been assisted in suicide by Dignitas. Another UK resident, a woman in her mid-60s suffering an aggressive form of cancer, is believed to have been assisted in her death by EX International in summer 2007.

Dr Michael Irwin, a former GP and friend of Chris, spoke to him in the days before he died: "He was determined to end his life before his body failed him, and he had been working with Ex International to achieve that for more than a year."

Dr Irwin had planned to be with Chris in Berne, where the EX International clinic is run, but because of his own ill-health, could not make the trip. Nevertheless he was interviewed by two senior Surrey police officers who had questioned him under the Suicide Act.

"Chris spent the day before his death sight-seeing in Berne visiting museums with his wife. I have confirmed with the clinic in Switzerland that he died early on Friday afternoon," he said.

Assisted suicides: Those who choose to end their lives in Switzerland

*A former docker, Reg Crew, left, is thought to have been the first British person to have travelled to die at Dignitas. That was in January 2003. The 74-year-old had suffered from motor neurone disease for more than four years. Before drinking water laced with barbiturates, he told a nurse at the Zurich clinic: "I want to die today."

*The family of a 76-year-old man who died at Dignitas called for the clinic to be closed in May 2004. Gordon Hurst, above, of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, had Parkinson's disease and told relatives his plans in letters he arranged to be sent after his death. One relative said he had deeply missed his wife of more than 50 years, Jean, who died three years earlier.

*At 23, a badly injured rugby player, Daniel James, is the youngest Briton to be assisted in his suicide in a Swiss clinic where he travelled to on 12 September this year. He had suffered a collapsed spine in a scrum during a training session at Nuneaton Rugby Club in March 2007, which left him paralysed from the chest down.



http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-1056653.html

SERVICES FOR GARY BAKER ON TUESDAY
MANALAPAN, NJ – December 8, 2008 – Services for trainer Gary Baker will be held at 12 noon on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at the Riverside Memorial Chapel in Mount Vernon, NY.

Baker, a popular and well-respected trainer, passed away on Sunday after a long battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis [ALS], also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Baker, 60, had been residing with his two standard poodles at the home of Robin and Steven Arnold in Purchase, NY, since he became incapacitated. The Arnolds and David Scharf of New York City were like family to Baker.

"Gary was truly a special person,” said Scharf. “He was way more than a horse trainer; Gary was truly my best friend"

Baker’s introduction to racing began as a summer job in 1969, grooming horses for trainer Jerry Silverman. During three tours of duty with Silverman, he trained such horses as Computer and Camp David. He opened his own stable in the late 1970s and enjoyed considerable success as the horseman who could identify and break top young horses.

“I decided that I would rather select colts, break them and then turn them over to different people, be it for racing in Canada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or wherever,” Baker told The Harness Edge in its June 2008 issue. Both Steven Arnold and David Scharf bought into the concept and others to join in the group were Peter Heffering, Lou Domiano and Howard Schoor.

Among the top horses to emerge from Baker’s program were six-figure stakes winners Storm Island, Castanet Hall, Monsoon Hall, Camelot Hall and Precious Delight. He was also instrumental in the selection of the colt that would become 2007 Horse of the Year, Donato Hanover.

Donato Hanover, who would win the Hambletonian among his 19 wins in 22 starts for earnings of $3 million, was purchased for $95,000 by Scharf who included Arnold in the ownership group.

“I never sat behind the horse once, but I still felt very close to him,” said Baker, who was wheelchair-bound in recent years.

“I suppose it was because I was influential in David buying him,” he said in the magazine article. “Donato wasn’t just the best horse last year, he was a special horse. It made me feel really good that those people [Scharf and Arnold] got to have a horse like that.”

There was no cure for Baker’s ALS but he involved himself with the Secure-A-Cure Golf Classic to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s ALS research effort. The tournament is part of the Augie’s Quest project [www.augiesquest.com] with donations benefiting the ALS Division, Muscular Dystrophy Association, 3300 East Sunrise Drive, Tucson, AZ 85718-3299

The funeral will take place at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 21 West Broad Street, Mount Vernon, NY. Contact information for the funeral home: 914-664-6800 or visit www.riversidememorialchapel.com.

VERA TERRANOVA, 63
12/08/2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Staten Island Advance


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Vera Ellen Terranova, 63, of Todt Hill, a homemaker whose greatest joy was spending time with her family, died yesterday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, from complications of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Born Vera Ellen Rooney in Manhattan, she was brought to Rosebank as a toddler. She grew up there and in New Dorp. Mrs. Terranova was a graduate of St. Joseph Hill Academy.

At 16, she met her future husband, Joseph, at South Beach. He dunked her in the water and convinced her to date him. That night, he crashed her Sweet 16 party.

"He was her first and only boyfriend and true love," said the couple's daughter, Elena McNeill.

After marrying in 1968, the couple moved to South Beach. They relocated to Dongan Hills in 1975 and settled in Todt Hill in 1991.

Mrs. Terranova enjoyed reading, especially novels by James Patterson, Nora Roberts and Jodi Picoult. She loved to cook for her entire family.

"She cooked everything great. She really did everything for her family," said her son, Anthony. "She was the greatest mom anyone could ever have."

Mrs. Terranova traveled extensively, taking trips to the Caribbean, Mexico, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, England, Ireland, California, Canada and Panama, among other destinations. Mr. and Mrs. Terranova visited St. Maarten twice a year since 1984. They spent every summer in their second home in Toms River, N.J.

Mrs. Terranova was a parishioner of St. Ann's R.C. Church in Dongan Hills.

In addition to her husband of 40 years, Joseph J., son, Anthony, and daughter, Elena, surviving are another son, Joseph; a daughter, Alicia Daddio; a brother, James Rooney; a sister, Bernadette Healy, and seven grandchildren.

The funeral will be Thursday from the Casey Funeral Home in Castleton Corners, with a mass at 10 a.m. in St. Ann's Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.



http://www.silive.com/obituaries/adv...440.xml&coll=1

Jazz drummer Omar Clay of Mill Valley dies at 73
By Paul Liberatore
Posted: 12/10/2008 02:47:58 PM PST


Omar Clay, a renowned drummer/percussionist who played with some of the greatest names in jazz and was a popular instrumental music teacher at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, died Dec. 4.

Mr. Clay died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. He was 73.

In his illustrious career, Mr. Clay performed or recorded with a veritable "who's who" of jazz, including John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, David "Fathead" Newman, Dionne Warwick and Roberta Flack, among many others.

A resident of Mill Valley, Mr. Clay taught instrumental music at Tam High from 1990 to 2000, retiring as music director. Last year, a star was dedicated in his honor in the new Caldwell Performing Arts Center on campus.

"He loved kids and they loved him back," said Barbara Chew, Mr. Clay's longtime partner and companion. "His passions were music and teaching."

Tucker Kelley, one of Mr. Clay's former students, said: "Of all the teachers I had at Tam, he remains one of my all-time favorites. É He always maintained such a cool personality, even when he was scolding us. It still amazes me. His mustaches, his hollering, the tuxedos, the football games we played. All of these are wonderful memories of Mr. Clay for me."

Born in 1935 in St. Louis, Mr. Clay attended Xavier University in New Orleans on a scholarship before enlisting in the U.S. Army, playing in a jazz band while stationed in Germany.

After the

service, he received a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Michigan, then moved to New York, making a name for himself on the Manhattan jazz scene while teaching at the High School of Music and Arts.
"He was a wonderful drummer and dear friend," said venerable jazz pianist Marian McPartland.

Mr. Clay performed in concert with Coltrane in the early 1960s, and played with Sarah Vaughan and the Bob James Trio at a White House concert during the Johnson Administration. He was proud to have danced with Lady Bird Johnson.

He was one of the six original members of Max Roach's all-percussion M'Boom Ensemble, playing marimba, timbales, xylophone and timpani. He also worked in the orchestra pits of the Broadway musicals "Guys and Dolls" and "Raisin," a 1973 adaptation of the play "A Raisin in the Sun."

In 1979, he moved to Northern California, getting a master's degree in music education from San Francisco State University before joining the faculty at Tam High.

He was a member of the Bay Area-based Guarneri Jazz Quartet, and recorded locally with Mill Valley singer Jackie Ryan, pianist Larry Vuckovich, singers Jon Hendricks and Frank Jackson, guitarist Josh Workman and bassist Jeff Chambers.

Mr. Clay continued to play even after he was diagnosed with ALS, a neuro-degenerative disease, last summer.

In addition to Ms. Chew, he is survived by his mother, Elnora Jackson of Akron, Ohio, and a daughter, Wanda Davis of Hayward.

A musical tribute is being planned for next month.

Donations can be made to the Forbes Norris ALS Research Center, 2324 Sacramento St. Suite 111, San Francisco 94115 or the music department at Tamalpais High School, 700 Miller Ave., Mill Valley 94941.

Contact Paul Liberatore via e-mail at liberatore@marinij.com

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_11187575

Passionate about art until the end
By FELICITY ROOKES felicity.rookes@tnl.co.nz - Taranaki Daily News | Friday, 12 December 2008

see lynns art
http://www.tart.co.nz/Lynn/lynn.htm



Motor neurone disease has claimed the life of musician and artist Lynn Morresey.


The 47-year-old died peacefully at Telford Rest Home in New Plymouth after battling the crippling disease of the nervous system for more than four years.

The former Waitara man played in Taranaki Christian rock group 91 Battalion as well as making albums Cellar Uncle and Ward 4 - Overflow.

Mr Morresey was in the later stages of his disease when making a CD for 91 Battalion. He was forced to use his knuckles to mix the album.

While he was well known in the music world, Mr Morresey was better know for his art work - some of which has sold for thousands of dollars to American and Australian collectors.

The reformed drug addict found religion while in jail and never looked back, devoting the final years of his life to God.

Although motor neurone disease took his voice and control of his limbs he never stopped producing music and art in his head.

Mr Morresey is survived by children Jade and Kia.



http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4790103a6554.html

A precious light dims with Yakar founder Mickey Rosen's death

By Raphael Ahren, Haaretz Correspondent



Tributes came in from all over the world for Rabbi Michael (Mickey) Rosen, one of the most popular and most revered Anglo rabbis in the country, who died Sunday in Jerusalem, aged 63.

Rosen had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the degenerative neurological disorder known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He had been in a coma for three weeks after sustaining serious injuries in a fall.

Best known for founding the Modern Orthodox Yakar communities in London and later in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Rosen was also committed to social activism and political engagement in many different areas.
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Yakar in Jerusalem's Old Katamon neighborhood is known for its soulful, Carlebach-inspired prayer services and is very popular with the city's English-speakers.

"Mickey's wife Gila is surrounded by a mob of people," Rosen's mother-in-law, Micheline Katzersdorfer, said yesterday about the shiva at the Rosen residence.

She wasn't exaggerating. At around noon the house was filled with around 100 people of all ages and religious orientations. Relative and visitors spoke animatedly, recalling fond memories of Rosen that touched on his deep spirituality and the respect and openness with which he greeted every person he met.

"At the funeral, so many people came up to me and told me that Mickey had completely changed their lives," Katzersdorfer said.

"It reminded me of when he was the rabbi of Sale, a suburb of Manchester, in the 1980s. Under his influence a whole group of people became so enveloped in yiddishkeit, that they all immigrated and moved to Jerusalem together. He was the hero of the town, but not because of that. They loved him because he played on the football team," Katzersdorfer said.

"For somebody who believed as deeply as he did and was so careful about Halacha, his openness toward secular wisdom, his seeing truth in secular wisdom and his progressive, liberal political understanding, were a special and valuable contribution to religious life in this country," Rabbi Levi Lauer, a close friend, said.

"In Israel, religion is often seen as something primitive, people either practice it even though they see it as primitive, or they don't do anything at all," Rabbi Yehoshua Engelman, who was the rabbi of Yakar in London before being recruited by Rosen to lead the new Yakar branch in Tel Aviv, said.

"Mickey was someone who passionately tried to show that the Jewish God is also an intelligent God. In Yakar, he showed that religion is not primitive, that it can be worthwhile, that it can classy, intellectual and serious and also spiritual, deep and challenging. Mickey always wanted people to challenge themselves."

Rabbi Rosen is survived by his wife Gila, six children and seven grandchildren.

David M. Couri

David M. Couri, age 50, of Old Orchard Beach, died at his home on Dec. 6, 2008, of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).

Born in Biddeford on May 13, 1958, he was the son of Robert J. and Ellen Lombard Couri. He was educated in Old Orchard Beach schools and graduated from Old Orchard Beach High School in 1977. In 1979, he received an associates degree from Southern Maine Vocational Institute in South Portland, now SMCC. He later joined the apprentice program at New Hampshire College through the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

He was a lifelong resident of Old Orchard Beach.

Dave was later employed by the U.S. Postal Service, until his illness forced him to retire. Commenting on ALS, he said, “The more weight I lost the heavier I became.”

He was an accomplished carpenter and craftsman, always working on a project. Dave was a skilled musician and recently recorded a CD of his original jazz compositions. His leisure time was spent walking the streets of his beloved town, riding his bicycle or driving his muscle car. He loved the town, the woods, the tracks and the beach.

He will be sadly missed by all those who have loved him, known him or have laughed with him, including his pug, Maevis Pudge, and his tuxedo cat, Mandy Marie.

Dave is survived by his wife, Regina Sullivan Fontaine, of Old Orchard Beach; her children, Jane Fontaine and her husband, Steven Lynch, of Long Island, N.Y., Carrie Anne Fontaine, James Fontaine and his wife, Ann Albano Fontaine, all of Portland, Jennifer Fontaine, of Gray, Andrew Fontaine, of New York; grandchildren, Sierra Fontaine, Scarlett Fontaine-Lynch, Alexandra Albano-Fontaine, Ruby Fontaine, and Alec and AJ Dodge; his parents of Old Orchard Beach; sister, Lynda Couri Wood and her husband, Richard Wood, of Escondido, Calif.; nephew, Adam Wood of Montana; uncles, James E. and John W. Lombard, and several cousins.

The family would like to thank the Home Health Visiting Nurses of Southern Maine, Southern Maine Hospice and ALS Society for their care and support.

A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. today (Thursday, Dec. 11) at the Old Orchard Beach Funeral Home.

Those who desire may make Memorial Contributions to the Saco Food Pantry, C/O Mary Tucker, 48 Plymouth Drive, Saco, Maine 04072.

Harry Adams: Disease did not take his spirit

Staff file photo
Dr. Harry Adams, who died Monday, was a pastor with the Church of the Open Door. He battled with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.


By Chick Jacobs
Staff writer

His voice was stilled.

Not his spirit.

Dr. Harry Adams, a dynamic pastor at the Church of the Open Door before his body fell victim to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis a decade ago, died Monday.

His work, and his message for persecuted Christians overseas will continue, according to family friends.

“He was a spokesman for Christians around the world who are persecuted,” said Dr. Ralph Richardson. Richardson, the Church of the Open Door’s founder, knew Adams since his family moved to Fayetteville in 1989.

“Our church’s search committee saw him preach in Virginia and recommended him,” Richardson said. “He was an accomplished Bible expositor.

“He didn’t just preach; he taught. That’s a unique gift among pastors.”

Under Adams’ leadership, the church grew. Two expansion projects were completed, and community outreach programs were added.

Dr. Adams wasn’t a bubbly glad-hander, friends recall. He was quiet, studious and driven to help Christians in need overseas. He was active with Voice of the Martyrs, an international group that reports on Christian struggles in hostile countries.

“It was his burden,” Richardson said.

He also was a published author. After Adams was diagnosed with ALS in 1997, he continued to write. One book, “The AMG Concise Bible Survey,” has been praised by researchers.

Adams wasn’t supposed to live to see the new millennium. But he vowed to “stick around as long as I’m able,” and last year he was one of the 10 percent of ALS sufferers who live a decade after diagnosis.

His last days were spent at the Carroll S. Roberson Hospice Center.

Dr. Adams is survived by his wife Susan, son Al and daughter Amy. A graveside service is planned for Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a memorial service at the Church of the Open Door at 2 p.m. Richardson and current pastor Benji Spears will lead the service.

Staff writer Chick Jacobs can be reached at jacobsc@fayobserver.com or 486-3515.

to all pals