Rachel Lorean Adams died on Sunday, March 25, 2018, among family and friends in Baton Rouge, just weeks before her 95th birthday. She was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, on April 14, 1923, the daughter of Olin Leroy Adams Sr. of Long Island, N.C., and Stella Roper Adams of Hickory, N.C. After finishing high school in Salisbury, N.C., she attended Pfeiffer College (now Pfeiffer University). Rachel loved music. She played violin and was a member of the orchestra at both her high school and at Pfeiffer. She brought this love of music and the opportunity to develop musical talents to her three children. After leaving Pfeiffer, Rachel worked as an administrative assistant to the President of Cannon Mills in North Carolina. She and Leonard Caldwell Adams met in Salisbury, N.C., in 1944, and were married in June of 1945, when Leonard was granted a one-week furlough prior to his deployment to Europe with the U.S Army. Together they moved to Clemson, S.C., in 1946, where Leonard was on the faculty of Clemson College. At Clemson, Rachel worked as the administrative assistant to the Dean of the School of Engineering. With the arrival of the first of her three children in 1947, Rachel assumed the role that was to be her most important and most impactful: that of mother, teacher, comforter and moral pole star for her beloved children. Over a period of about 12 years there were family moves from South Carolina to Oklahoma and Florida as Leonard pursued graduate studies, and finally a permanent move to Louisiana when Leonard joined the LSU faculty. "Resiliency" is a term that reflects Rachel's life. The life-experiences from the pre-teen and teenage years extending throughout her later adulthood were remarkable. Rachel was steadfastly devoted to her family. Her leadership in navigating tremendous demands and challenges taught others how to love, and how to focus one's energy on the opportunities that lie ahead, rather than the trials that are in the past. Rachel enjoyed cooking, sewing and needlepoint, and she especially reveled in the life journeys and achievements of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her nieces and nephews. She remained a loyal fan of her LSU Football Tigers and the LSU Baseball team. She was always a steady matriarch and a loving, devoted wife. Rachel was preceded in death by her husband of 72 years, Dr. Leonard C Adams; her daughter Ann Stewart Adams Reeder; her brothers Dr. Olin Leroy Adams Jr and Dr. William Stewart Adams. Rachel Adams is survived by her sons J. Phillip Adams of Bedford, NY, and Richard C. Adams of Plano, TX and their wives; her five grandchildren Stephani, Andrew, Meredith, Amelia, and Madeleine; great-grandsons; five nephews and nieces, and their children. A private memorial gathering of the family is being scheduled, to take place in Salisbury, N.C. Donations in her memory may be directed to: The Leonard C. and Rachel Adams Foundation at The University of Florida, c.o The University of Florida Foundation, 1938 W. University Ave., Gainesville, FL 32603; or to The St. James Foundation, St. James Place, 333 Lee Drive, Baton Rouge, LA.