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grolfe
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Posted: Fri Jul 3rd, 2009 03:56 pm |
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By Glenn Rolfe
Leader & State Register
BRIDGEVILLE – Saturday, Delaware, Sussex County and beloved Bridgeville bid goodbye to state Sen. Thurman G. Adams Jr. – a powerful political figure who was remembered as a humble man of his word, a homegrown Sussex Countain and above all a dedicated family man.
Amid Secret Service presence, vice-president Joseph Biden – who befriended Sen. Adams and his family nearly four decades ago – joined Adams family as speakers at the funeral at Woodbridge High School, and was part of the several block procession that culminated with graveside services at the Bridgeville Cemetery.
“I am flattered that you asked me to do this. I wish you hadn’t,” said vice-president Biden. “I don’t know how anybody can sum up life, and with Thurman ... do it justice.”
The vice-president and former U.S. senator who was elected to the U.S. senate in1972 the same year Sen. Adams was elected to the state senate said one of his proudest things in life is to say “I was a friend of Thurman Adams.”
Sen. Adams, who served continuously after being elected to the state Senate in 1972, died June 23 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. He is the longest serving senator in Delaware history, and served as the powerful president pro tempore since 2003.
“Many of you know our father as a political figure,” said Sen. Adams’ daughter Lynn Kokjohn. “To us, he was just dad. And to his grandsons and great-grandsons and grand-daughters he was just ‘pop-pop.’”
Daughter Polly Mervine called her father a “humble, down to earth person” and a wonderful family man.
“We will move forward blessed with many, many fond memories. Family time was so very important to all of us. When our father walked in the house he hung up that hat of work and put on the hat of parent, grandparent …,” said Mrs. Mervine, adding that we “keep hearing that he was loved not for his political position but because he was gracious, caring and a true gentleman.”
Vice-president Biden said his bond with Sen. Adams and family extended beyond politics. Both families endured tragic loss.
“We shared our tragedies together. It wasn’t just the victories, it was the losses … we confided in one another,” vice-president Biden said. “He always said the right thing at the right time.”
Among Sen. Adams’ shining accomplishments as a lawmaker were efforts that resulted in an enhanced 911 system which provided dispatchers the address from a call’s origin, right turn on red and legislation permitting residents to mail fees to the state as opposed to delivering them in person.
Another of Sen. Adams’ accomplishments, vice-president Biden noted in his speech, were efforts to make it easier for organ donation, a personal mission in that Sen. Adams’ son Brent died while waiting for a liver transplant.
Sen. Adams was known for his use of desk drawer veto, where he would assign bills he did not favor or support to certain committees, knowing they would never surface for discussion or vote.
Outside the political arena and Legislative Hall, Sen. Adams was remembered as a native and citizen of Bridgeville, home of the family business, T.G. Adams & Sons Inc., a feed and grain business founded by his father.
His daughters spoke of spending summers at the beach, sledding in winter, earning a quarter for giving their dad a relaxing “head rub” and Monday night trips to Seaford for pizza, followed by homemade popcorn back at home and watching Gunsmoke and other television shows while their mother, Hilda, was bowling.
“Thurman was the ultimate example of what a man should be and taught me many life lessons on the proper way to provide for a family, how to be a man and how to stand strong for what was right – and also to be faithful to God,” said Sen. Adams’ son in law, Jay Mervine. “It is an end of an era. Our father, grandfather and great-grandfather has left many seats to fill.”
Vice-president Biden said Sen. Adams’ “influence on the state of Delaware is unprecedented,” saying hardly anything that became state law in the last 35 years “did not pass the desk of Thurman Adams.”
Throughout, Sen. Adams remained humble and Bridgeville was forever in his heart.
“No one ever doubted Thurman for his word,” vice-president Biden said. “I find it difficult to figure out when Thurman ends and Bridgeville begins, and where Thurman ends and Bridgeville begins. Thurman never forgot this place. No matter how much power he gained, he never lost his head. He never left Bridgeville.”
News Editor Glenn Rolfe can be reached at 629-5505 or grolfe@newszap.com.
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