Carol Adams

Obituary of Carol Addison Adams

Carol Addison Adams passed away at the Seabrook in Hilton Head, SC on April 2, 2018. Her daughter, Shanti Addison Fry and her son Christopher M. Fry, both of Massachusetts, were present at the time of her passing. Carol was born Mary Carolyn Addison in New Orleans and grew up in California graduating from Occidental College where she met her first husband, Edward Fry. She interrupted her college years to serve in the US Naval Reserve during World War II. At that time women were allowed to serve in the WAVES where they played a vital role in making sure that enlisted men received mail no matter how torn or misaddressed. She joined the Delta Omicron Tau sorority, which her granddaughter Victoria also joined while attending Occidental. Following graduation, Carol joined the American Embassy in Berlin in 1950 as a secretary. Again, the roles that women could occupy were somewhat limited, but Carol served her country then and later with pride and a deep patriotism that never wavered. While her children were young, Carol obtained a master’s degree in library science from the University of Southern California. She was a school librarian for many years, starting in California and subsequently at Edison High School in Edison, New Jersey when her then husband became a professor at Rutgers University. During this marriage, she also lived in Uganda, where she volunteered at the Makerere University library, and in Cambridge in the United Kingdom, 1960-1961. The Foreign Service re-entered Carol’s life when her second husband, Roy Nelson was assigned to the embassies of Peru, Chile and Egypt. Upon Roy’s retirement from the U.S. Department of State, she moved to Hilton Head where she became the head librarian of the Beaufort County Public Library of Hilton Head. She took a leave of absence to serve as the librarian to the Multinational Force in the Sinai Peninsula where she met her third husband, Frank Adams, whose work at US embassies took her to Hong Kong, Shenyang, Abu Dhabi, Equatorial Guinea and Pakistan where she worked as a visa counselor officer. During her time at the Hilton Head library, Carol was instrumental in organizing the first Foreign Affairs Seminar (FAS) in 1981. The Seminar became an affiliate of the World Affairs Council in 2002. The World Affairs Council has flourished, bringing insightful speakers on foreign policy to audiences that frequently top 700 participants. Carol was a passionate Democrat, a defender of Israel, and a lifelong advocate of civil rights, helping to found the Fair Housing Committee of Highland Park, New Jersey. On her passing, Carol bequeathed her collection of African art to the Penn Center. Her library of international and foreign policy books were given to the World Affairs Council for distribution to Academic World Quest, schools and local organizations. A thank you gathering was held by her children for Carol’s friends and caregivers in her home on April 4, 2018. A memorial gathering for her family will be held in California at a later date. In addition to her children, she is survived by her brother, Daniel Addison and his wife, Mary Addison of Sunland, CA, her son-in-law, Jeffrey Zinsmeyer, her daughter-in-law, Heidi Roper, her grandchildren: Jeremy Brandon Fry, Victoria Lei Addison Zinsmeyer and Julia Addison Zinsmeyer, her step-grandchildren: Joanna Roper and Erica Roper and eighteen nieces and nephews. Memorial gifts may be made to J Street Education Fund, P.O. Box 66073, Washington, DC 20035, or the World Affairs Council Hilton Head, PO Box, 22523, Hilton Head, SC 25525. Donations to both organizations are tax-deductible. The Island Funeral Home and Crematory. Islandfuneralhome.com
A Memorial Tree was planted for Carol
We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at The Island Funeral Home & Crematory
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