Janice O. Adkins, 91
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Janice Ogle Adkins, 91, of Sweetwood Retirement Community, died Sunday, June 26, 2015.
Born in Greenport, Long Island, N.Y., on Aug. 14, 1923, daughter of Earl and Hattie Sharp, both educators in Albany, N.Y., she received her secondary education at the Albany Academy for Girls, and earned her bachelor's degree in economics at Skidmore College.
Mrs. Adkins was an active member of and volunteer in the two communities in which she lived during her adult life, Easton, Md., and Williamstown. In Easton, she focused on the needs of children and early childhood development, through her volunteer efforts with Children's Aid Society and then through her organization and establishment of the first day care center in Easton, the Adkins/Critchlow Day Care Center. She first worked as a buyer at Macy's in New York City during World War II.
She was also an active member of the United Way and many other volunteer organizations. In Williamstown, she was a docent at the Clark Art Institute, a books-on-tape reader, and an active member of the Sweetwood community, where she had resided for more than 10 years. During her last few years, many wonderful and loving caregivers supported her and made her happy.
She and her husband, William H. Adkins II, were married upon his return from the war. They started married life in Williamstown, while he attended Williams College. Their first child, William Hughlett "Hugh" Adkins III, was born at the former North Adams Regional Hospital in 1947.
They moved in 1949 to Cambridge, where Mr. Adkins went to Harvard Law School and Elizabeth Adkins Neumann was born in 1950. Mr. Adkins started his legal career Easton, where Alden Sharp Adkins was born in 1952. Their fourth and last child, Leonard, was born, in Easton in 1960.
From 1946, when she and her husband married, he was the core of her life. He was the love of her life and she the love of his. In Easton, they shared child-rearing responsibilities and his legal career; in Willamstown, they shared the joys of being grandparents and fully enjoyed retirement and being a part of the Williamstown community.
Mr. Adkins, a retired Maryland Court of Appeals judge, died in 2003. They were married for 57 years.
Mrs. Adkins leaves her four children, her grandchildren Meagan, Jessica, Sarah, Erin, Jorge, Zoe and Joyce, Malcolm and Elizabeth, and several great-grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her grandson Michael.
FUNERAL NOTICE — Mrs. Adkins will be laid to rest next to her husband in Easton. Contributions in lieu of flowers can be made to the Critchlow Adkins Child Center,11 Magnolia St., Easton, MD 21601 or to Hospice Services of Western Massachusetts, 66 West St., L2, Pittsfield, MA 01201. The family is planning a celebration of her life in Williamstown in August.