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Posted: Wed Jun 24th, 2009 02:42 pm |
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By Glenn Rolfe
Leader & State Register
BRIDGEVILLE – Sen. Thurman G. Adams Jr., a longtime Democratic senator from Bridgeville who was President Pro Tempore, died Tuesday at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover.
Sen. Adams, who represented the 19th Senatorial District and was one of the most powerful leaders in Delaware’s legislature, had been recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Senate Majority Leader Anthony DeLuca, D-Newark East, last week announced that Sen. Adams was undergoing tests but indicated that the 80 year old senator expected to be back on the job in the Senate this week.
“It’s very sad news,” said Joseph T. Conaway, former president of the Bridgeville town commission. “It is a bad day for the Adams family and a bad day for the family of Sussex County. We’ve lost a giant. It is an end of an era. He is the only senator I remember from this district.”
Sen. DeLuca, D-Newark East, said he feels Sen. Adams’ passing personally. “He was my friend, and I’m going to miss him,” Sen. DeLuca said. “This is a loss for the people of Delaware. But right now, our thoughts and prayers are with Sen. Adams’ family.”
Sen. Adams, first elected in 1972, was the longest-serving member of the Senate. The 19th Senatorial District includes his hometown of Bridgeville as well as Greenwood, Georgetown and Milton, among other areas.
In a statement issued by the family Tuesday, Polly Mervine, one of Adams’ daughters, said her father loved helping Delawareans of all stripes.
“He really loved the people of Delaware,” she said. “His hobby was public service.”
And one of his grandsons, Drew Slater of Dover, said Sen. Adams hadn’t allowed his illness to slow down his Senate work.
“The day before he died,” Slater said, “he talked to us about getting a bill ready for the governor to sign, dealing with the state fair.”
Sen. Adams other daughter, Lynn Kokjohn, said that as much as he loved his public life, her father’s legacy was greater than his actions in the political arena.
“People need to know he was more than a politician,” she said. “He was a tremendous father, a wonderful grandfather and great-grandfather, and an incredible friend.”
Sen. Adams was preceded in death by his wife, Hilda, and his son, Brent.
He was the president of a family grain business and farming company, T. G. Adams & Sons, Inc., of Bridgeville, which had been founded by his father and to which he returned as a young man after earning a degree in agriculture at the University of Delaware.
Sen. Adams continued to work every day up until the time of his hospitalization.
On days when the Senate was in session, he would still be at his Bridgeville office by seven o’clock in the morning. He always prided himself on his close ties with Delaware’s farming community.
“Thurman always served beyond the limits of his district,” said Mr. Conaway. “He was the bastion of Sussex County principles. He knew our people and he knew what they expected. He stood up for our rights and he was able to get things for us that without his abilities and his authority would never have happened.”
Mr. Conaway said Sen. Adams is one of those rare people who simply cannot be replaced.
“They are not ever going to replace Thurman. It is just not going to happen. We’ll have a senator but it won’t be Thurman Adams,” Mr. Conaway said.
Funeral arrangements were not yet finalized Tuesday.
News Editor Glenn Rolfe can be reached at 629-5505 or grolfe@newszap.com.
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